Telangana Forest Minister Konda Surekha has fought many a battle during her political career but the latest one, now playing out in the All India Congress Committee (AICC) corridors in Delhi, could be among her toughest.
From being a protege of former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy to backing Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) supremo and former Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao, Surekha has built a reputation as a fighter and survivor.
During her four-year stint in the BRS, then known as the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), she drew on the Telangana sentiment to withstand attacks from within the party, including demands of her suspension. Now, she is banking on the Backward Classes (BC) issue and the support of BC organisations to protect her position in the Congress government in the state.
Seen by sections of the Telangana Congress as an outsider, Surekha has often been accused of adopting a defiant posture towards CM A Revanth Reddy on various issues.
Her daughter, Konda Sushmita Patel, has now put Surekha at the centre of an internal Congress dispute following her public remarks against the CM.
The latest controversy erupted after Sushmita, an aspiring politician in Parkal, questioned Revanth’s decision to back sitting MLA Revuri Prakash Reddy from Parkal, from the seat for the 2028 elections.
Sushmita asked, “Who is Revanth to decide my ticket?” She also challenged Prakash Reddy to resign and face her in a by-election. She said that if denied a Congress ticket, she would contest as an Independent against the party candidate. Sources said Surekha has been reluctant to intervene in this row because she wants her daughter to establish herself in politics.
Sushmita’s remarks caused resentment among several Congress leaders, who questioned why Surekha had not reined in her daughter. The issue subsequently moved from the state unit to the Congress high command in Delhi.
The Telangana Congress’s disciplinary committee examined Surekha’s response to its show-cause notice and forwarded its report to the AICC, recommending action.
On Tuesday, Revanth met AICC general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal in Delhi and was learnt to have pressed for stringent disciplinary action against Surekha. Telangana Congress chief B Mahesh Kumar Goud and other leaders from the state were also in Delhi as the Congress leadership discussed the matter.
These consultations have assumed significance amid speculation that Surekha could be dropped from the Cabinet. At the same time, some senior Congress leaders, including ministers and AICC functionaries, have urged the high command to exercise caution, pointing to Surekha’s political influence and standing among the BC communities.
Surekha’s husband Konda Murali hails from the Munnur Kapu group, while she belongs to the Padmasali community. Both communities have a sizeable presence across the state.
However, state party leaders have shown little inclination to let the matter die down. For them, the issue is no longer merely about Surekha’s equations with the CM, but about party discipline and the challenge posed by the Konda family to the Congress leadership in Warangal.
The Konda family has, over the years, sought to consolidate its political influence in Warangal district.
Surekha has been an MLA five times — twice from the erstwhile Shyamapet Assembly constituency, once from Parkal and twice from Warangal East. Murali, has been an MLC twice and has extensive political networks in Warangal.
Kondas have resisted ceding political space to other leaders in the district, even if they belonged to the same party, periodically bringing them into conflict with the party leadership.
The Congress government’s pledge to implement 42% reservation for the BCs has added a social dimension to the Surekha issue. Community organisations have rallied behind her and warned the Congress leadership against removing a prominent BC woman leader from the Cabinet.
Surekha became an AICC member in 2000. After Rajasekhara Reddy returned to power in 2009, he inducted her into his Cabinet as Minister for Women Development and Child Welfare, Disabled and Juvenile Welfare.
After Rajasekhara Reddy’s death on September 2, 2009 in a helicopter crash, Surekha campaigned for his son, Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, to be made the CM and eventually quit the K Rosaiah Cabinet in protest.
Her stand in support of Jagan brought her into conflict with the TRS, pro-Telangana groups and sections of the Andhra Pradesh Congress.
She resigned as MLA in June 2011 and joined the Jagan-led YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), but lost the subsequent by-election to the TRS.
Ahead of the 2014 elections, she joined the TRS and won from Warangal East. But her relationship with the TRS leadership did not remain smooth. Surekha and Murali were accused by sections of the party of trying to consolidate their independent political base in Warangal.
Ahead of the 2018 Assembly elections, she joined the Congress. She successfully contested the 2023 Assembly elections from Warangal East and was inducted into the Revanth Cabinet as Minister for Forests, Environment and Endowments.
Her tenure in the Congress has, however, been marked by repeated controversies.
In October 2024, Surekha made allegations linking BRS working president and former minister K T Rama Rao to the divorce of actors Naga Chaitanya and Samantha Ruth Prabhu. She later apologised. Actor Nagarjuna, Chaitanya’s father, subsequently filed a complaint against her.
The episode also drew criticism from within the Telangana Congress, with leaders accusing her of using a personal matter to target a political rival.
Now, for the Congress leadership, the dilemma is more complicated than simply deciding whether Surekha crossed a line. The party has to weigh the demands of discipline against her political influence in Warangal, the optics of acting against a BC woman minister and the possibility of the controversy widening into a larger confrontation within the state unit.
Sreenivas Janyala is a Deputy Associate Editor at The Indian Expr... Read More
