Hyderabad: In a major political shake-up in Telangana, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has decided to remove Environment and Forests Minister Konda Surekha from the Cabinet and forwarded the recommendation to the state Go…

Hyderabad: In a major political shake-up in Telangana, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has decided to remove Environment and Forests Minister Konda Surekha from the Cabinet and forwarded the recommendation to the state Governor, highly placed sources in the Telangana CMO said.An official gazette notification from Lok Bhavan is now only a formality. Surekha’s removal follows nearly two weeks of high drama that began after her daughter, Sushmitha, made adverse public remarks against Revanth Reddy.Surekha represents the Warangal East Assembly constituency. Following objections from party MLAs over Sushmitha’s remarks, the PCC disciplinary committee, headed by MP Mallu Ravi, issued Surekha a show-cause notice seeking an explanation.’CM Revanth Reddy indulged in blackmail politics’: Konda Surekha over removal from CabinetAfter Surekha submitted her response, the committee conducted its own inquiry and recommended that the AICC take action against her.Following nearly three days of marathon meetings in Delhi involving KC Venugopal, Revanth Reddy, Telangana in-charge Meenakshi Natarajan, PCC chief B Mahesh Goud, Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and senior minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy, the party finally decided to act against Surekha.Sources in the Congress told DH that the AICC had asked Surekha to resign from the Cabinet. Since she did not comply, Revanth Reddy went ahead and sent his recommendation for her removal to the Governor.Alongside Surekha, senior Congress leader G Chinna Reddy was also removed as chairman of the Telangana Planning Board.Responding to her dismissal, Surekha told reporters on Thursday that Revanth Reddy had “blackmailed” the AICC leadership, threatening to leave the party if action was not taken against her. She added that she would continue in the party as an MLA.Surekha also released a letter she had written to Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and other senior AICC leaders on August 23. In the letter, she alleged that Revanth Reddy had obstructed her decisions by issuing directions directly from the Chief Minister’s Office, thereby limiting her powers as a minister.The controversy traces back to Revanth Reddy’s visit to Parkal in Warangal district in August, when he publicly backed sitting MLA Revuri Prakash Reddy to contest again and urged voters to support him.Revanth Reddy’s assertion reportedly irked the Konda family, as Sushmitha has been nurturing ambitions to contest from the constituency in the 2028 Assembly elections.Speaking at an event in Geesugonda on August 19 to mark her mother’s birthday, Sushmitha said she was ready to contest the next Assembly election from Parkal, with or without a Congress ticket.She further alleged that Revanth Reddy had grown arrogant since becoming Chief Minister and claimed that the party now functioned more like a “TDP Congress”, accusing him of favouring leaders who had defected to the Congress from the TDP. She also alleged that the Chief Minister was misusing intelligence agencies against his own party colleagues.Surekha later distanced herself from her daughter’s remarks, calling them Sushmitha’s personal comments and noting that she was a grown adult. Sushmitha had openly criticised Revanth Reddy’s leadership in the past as well.

Source: Deccan Herald