Hyderabad: The Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee’s Disciplinary Committee has issued a notice to Endowments and Forest Minister Konda Surekha, asking her to explain remarks made by her daughter Konda Sushmita Patel against Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and Parkal MLA Revuri Prakash Reddy. Committee chairman and Congress MP Mallu Ravi has given Surekha three days to respond, deepening a rift that has been building within the ruling party over the Parkal Assembly seat.
The dispute traces back to a recent visit by Revanth Reddy to Parkal in Warangal district, where he publicly backed sitting MLA Revuri Prakash Reddy to contest again and asked voters to support him. The remark unsettled the Konda camp, which has for months been positioning Sushmita as a prospective candidate from the constituency; her father, former MLC Konda Murali, had earlier announced her candidacy.
Sushmita hit back on Wednesday, August 19, speaking at an event in Geesugonda held to mark her mother’s birthday. She declared she was ready to contest the next Assembly election from Parkal, with or without a Congress ticket, and dared Revanth Reddy or his family members to contest against her. She also questioned the Chief Minister’s claim that he intends to remain in office for ten years, pointing out that even the late Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy never made such an assertion, and referenced Revanth’s own past defeat in the Kodangal Assembly seat.
Beyond the ticket dispute, Sushmita accused the Congress leadership of turning against grassroots workers and sidelining Backward Classes representation within the party. She alleged that Revanth Reddy had grown “arrogant” since becoming Chief Minister and claimed the party now functioned more like a “TDP Congress,” accusing him of favouring leaders who had joined Congress from the Telugu Desam Party.
She also alleged, without providing evidence, that the Chief Minister was misusing intelligence agencies against his own party colleagues, and took a swipe at Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy, questioning whether it was him or Revanth who was actually running the government.
Sushmita additionally repeated an allegation, previously raised by the opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi, involving a land deal linked to the Chief Minister’s brother.
This is not the first time Sushmita’s public remarks against the party leadership have triggered a controversy. In October last year, following a police visit to the Konda family’s Hyderabad residence in connection with an extortion case against the minister’s then-aide, Sushmita had accused senior leaders, including the Chief Minister, of targeting her parents because they belong to a Backward Class community. Surekha later apologised to Revanth Reddy over those remarks, calling the episode a misunderstanding within the party.
The Congress high command is yet to comment publicly on the latest controversy. The party’s disciplinary panel has separately sought explanations from two other leaders this week over unrelated conduct issues.
