Rift deepens in Telangana Congress; Minister Surekha’s daughter goes live on social media levelling allegations

The ongoing rift between Telangana Endowments and Forest Minister Konda Surekha’s family and other Congress leaders — including Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy — appears to have deepened with fresh allegations made by Konda Sushmitha, daughter of Surekha and former MLC Konda Muralidhar Rao. The incident also led to a high drama.

The incident occurred when police in plain clothes reportedly tried to take Surekha’s former OSD, N. Sumanth, into custody late on Wednesday (October 15) from the Minister’s residence at Gayatri Hills, Jubilee Hills, in Hyderabad.

He is said to have threatened an industrialist at gun point and was removed as OSD to the Minister.

The removal and attempted arrest of Sumanth are also being seen as a fallout of the differences between Ms. Surekha and Mr. Srinivas Reddy over the ₹71-crore contract for Medaram Jatara works. She had earlier complained to the party leadership that Mr. Srinivas Reddy was getting involved in her department works.

After noticing police officers in plain clothes, Ms. Sushmitha came downstairs and engaged in a verbal duel with one of them, questioning their presence at the house in mufti. Though the officers identified themselves as police and said they had come to take Sumanth into custody, she refused to let them in. She went live on social media, alleging that a section of Congress leaders from the ‘Reddy community’ and Dalit MLA Kariyam Srihari have been targeting her family.

It is learnt that Sumanth left in a car with Minister Konda Surekha after the police reached her residence.

In a video shared on social media, Ms. Sushmitha alleged that some senior Congress leaders were behind attempts to malign her family, claiming her parents were being targeted as part of a conspiracy. She also claimed that her father’s gunman had already been removed. “My father is facing threats to his life. How can they scale down his security?” she asked.

Meanwhile, the Forest Minister’s husband and former MLC, Mr. Muralidhar Rao, on Thursday feigned ignorance.Speaking to mediapersons at his residence in Hanamkonda, he said, “I have no idea about what happened in Hyderabad last night. I also do not know about Konda Surekha’s former OSD Sumanth’s episode.” He, however, said that Sushmitha has every right to express her opinion. “She does not hold any position in the Congress party,” he said, adding that he had no issues with Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy.