Surekha Skips Cabinet Meet, Lodges Protest With AICC In-Charge

Hyderabad: Endowments minister Konda Surekha skipped the state Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy at the Secretariat on Thursday, intensifying the internal rift within the ruling Congress.

The absence came hours after high drama unfolded at her Jubilee Hills residence late Wednesday night when Hyderabad Task Force police arrived in plain clothes searching for her Officer on Special Duty (OSD) N. Sumanth, who was sacked by the government over corruption allegations on Wednesday.

Upset over the developments, Surekha met AICC Telangana in-charge Meenakshi Natarajan and deputy chief minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka on Thursday, lodging a strong protest against the police action.

Surekha’s family resisted the police move, triggering a heated confrontation. Surekha's daughter, Sushmita, confronted the police and demanded to see an arrest warrant before allowing them entry. The police had reached the house following a tip-off that Sumanth was hiding there. As the standoff dragged on, Surekha and Sumanth emerged from the house and drove away in a car, evading the police team.

Speaking to mediapersons later, Sushmita alleged that a few top Congress leaders were conspiring to malign their family. She accused them of targeting the Konda family because they belong to a Backward Class community. She also claimed that a young Congress leader was involved in the incident linked to Deccan Cements.

According to Sushmita, they learned on Wednesday that Sumanth had been dismissed as OSD following allegations that he threatened an employee of Deccan Cements with a gun for extortion in irrigation minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy’s Huzurnagar constituency.

When they contacted Vem Narender Reddy, he reportedly said Uttam Kumar Reddy had filed a complaint, but the minister later denied. Sushmita expressed fears that Sumanth might be coerced into giving a false statement implicating her father, former MLC Konda Murali, in the case. “It’s a conspiracy to arrest my father,” she alleged, adding that Murali’s security had also been reduced despite his background as a former Maoist.

The controversy is seen as a fallout of the growing rift between Surekha and a minister over the `71 crore Medaram temple renovation contract works. Surekha had accused a senior minister of interfering in the endowments department and awarding the Medaram temple renovation contract without her knowledge. Her decision to skip the Cabinet meeting is being viewed as a mark of protest amid the escalating infighting in the party.