Relief for Konda Surekha, gets support from key Congress leaders

Hyderabad: In some relief to Telangana Endowment Minister Konda Surekha, the Congress high command is said to have extended unexpected support to her.

Local reports suggest that two All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretaries and two ministers reportedly urged the high command to reconsider taking action against her, and any action may lead to opposition from the Backwards Classes (BC) community.

On Wednesday, September 2, she met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge in New Delhi to give her side of the story. Later, while speaking to the media, she appealed not to hold her responsible for her daughter’s remarks against Chief Minister Revanth Reddy.

“I have told the Congress high command everything I had to say. The party leaders said they would consider it. My daughter is independent. But I will not comment on her remarks,” she said.

“It is not right to hold me responsible simply because she is my daughter. I will neither condemn nor support her remarks,” she said.

On her declining support from within the Congress party, she said the party should take action against them. “Some people in the party made allegations against me. I know who was behind it, but naming them would create controversy. The party needs to issue show-cause notices and take action against those who made allegations against me as well,” she said.

The previous night, she travelled to Delhi after being summoned by the AICC leadership, which is expected to seek her response to the disciplinary panel’s findings.

Earlier in the day, reports emerged that the Chief Minister had pushed the Congress high command to initiate disciplinary action against Surekha. In a nearly one-hour-long meeting with AICC general secretary KC Venugopal at the national capital, a cabinet reshuffle and a probable replacement for Surekha were discussed.

No final decision has been taken. A senior AICC leader said the leadership would weigh what serves the party’s prospects of returning to power in the next elections, sends a message against indiscipline, and ensures Revanth is “respected by one and all,” adding that the party does not want to lose Telangana.