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Speculation that Telangana Minister Konda Surekha could be removed from the state Cabinet intensified on Wednesday, September 2, as she met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge in Delhi. Chief Minister Revanth Reddy also met Kharge on the same day, and had reportedly discussed possible disciplinary action against Surekha with All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary KC Venugopal the previous day.
The latest row was triggered by remarks made by Surekha’s daughter, Susmita, against Revanth Reddy on August 19. Susmita, who is reportedly interested in contesting the next Assembly election from Parkal constituency in her family’s stronghold of Warangal district, was upset over the Chief Minister’s announcement that the sitting MLA, Revuri Prakash Reddy, 74, would seek re-election from the constituency.
Susmita questioned Revanth’s authority to decide who would receive a Congress ticket, and also brought up recent allegations of corruption against him over subsidised land allotted to a company run by his brother, Kondal Reddy.
Her comments prompted the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC)’s disciplinary committee to issue a show-cause notice to Surekha, asking her to explain why action should not be taken against her over her daughter’s comments. Surekha has since submitted her explanation.
The disciplinary committee has reportedly recommended that Surekha be removed from the Cabinet. While Revanth and other Telangana Congress leaders met Venugopal and reportedly discussed the recommendation, Surekha wasn’t allowed to meet Venugopal. This fuelled speculation that the Congress leadership was considering either removing her from the Cabinet or asking her to resign.
Surekha, however, has firmly refused to quit. Speaking to the media after meeting Kharge on September 3, she distanced herself from her daughter’s remarks, saying Susmita was a married woman who spoke independently. At the same time, she refused to either defend or condemn her daughter’s remarks, and argued that it was unfair to issue a show-cause notice to her over remarks she had not made herself.
Surekha also highlighted her caste background, saying she belonged to the Padmashali community, while her husband was from the Munnuru Kapu community. Both are categorised as Backward Classes (BC) communities in Telangana and have a significant votebank in the state.
In an informal interaction with the media, Surekha also questioned why no action had been taken against Revanth for his earlier claim that he would remain Chief Minister for the next 10 years. She asked if making such remarks without approval from Congress high command didn’t constitute anti-party conduct.
She also reportedly warned that there could be major political consequences if BC groups perceived her removal as an attempt to target a BC leader.
Susmita had previously made serious allegations against CM Revanth in a dramatic episode in 2025. She alleged that the Reddy leaders in the Telangana Congress were targeting her family because they were from a BC community.
The incident happened amid a rift within the party between Surekha and other Congress leaders, including Minister Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy. Surekha had later apologised to Revanth for her daughter’s remarks.
Following the recent incident when Susmita attacked CM Revanth, Surekha visited the Chief Minister’s residence and tied a rakhi on Rakshabandhan, appearing to reach out to him for a truce.
Surekha had previously served as a Minister for Women Development and Child Welfare briefly in 2009, when YS Rajasekhara Reddy was the CM of Andhra Pradesh. After his death, she joined his son YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSR Congress Party. Later in 2014, she moved to the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS, formerly TRS). She quit BRS in 2018 and joined Congress. She is a seven-time MLA from different constituencies in Warangal, and has won thrice from Parkal.