Telangana min’s daughter spilling the beans puts Congress on the defensive

Hyderabad: The entire episode of endowments and forests minister Konda Surekha has not only become a major embarrassment to the ruling Congress government in Telangana, but has opened a pandora’s box of issues happening inside the cabinet.

After the late night incident of task force police personnel looking for N Sumanth, Konda Surekha’s Officer on Special Duty (OSD) who was removed from service at her residence, and her daughter Sushmitha getting into an argument with the police officer; several developments took place throughout the entire day.

On Thursday, police picket in front of Konda Surekha’s residence was removed, and the works for the development of Medaram temple were taken away from endowments department and given to the roads and buildings department by the orders of the chief secretary.

During the day, Surekha, accompanied by her daughter, went to meet deputy chief minister Bhatti Vikramarka at Praja Bhavan in Begumpet and spoke with him for over an hour.

Though she was supposed to attend the cabinet meeting held in the evening, she gave it a miss and went to meet All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge of Telangana Meenakshi Natarajan at the MLA Quarters and spoke with her in the evening for 3 hours.

Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president B Mahesh Kumar Goud also attended the meeting and heard Surekha and Sushmitha.

Speaking with the media after the meeting, Konda Surekha said that she was assured that the issue will be discussed and coordinated with her.

“I told them about my thoughts and problems. They assured that they will discuss and take a decision. I have left it to them now. Whatever decision TPCC will take we will abide by that,” she said.

What the issue is

The issue began after the Telangana Pollution Control Board (TGPCB) removed Sumanth, who according to Sushmitha, is her cousin, from the post of OSD to Surekha. Though there was no reason given for the same, media reported that he allegedly got involved in some corrupt activities.

However, the beans were spilled by Sushmitha’s on Wednesday night, when the task force police were stationed at her house with information that Sumanth was hiding at her house.

Sushmitha told media persons that the Intelligence IG had informed that irrigation minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy gave a written complaint seeking action against Sumanth, for threatening the representatives of Deccan Cements.

Media had in the recent past reported certain environmental violations by Deccan Cements which is located on the banks of the Krishna River in Huzurnagar constituency represented by Uttam Kumar Reddy.

Sushmitha claimed that chief minister A Revanth Reddy’s close aide and Congress leader Rohin Reddy, on the orders of the chief minister, took her cousin Sumanth for a sitting with the officials of Deccan Cement.

She said that if there was a gun involved in the discussions, it could have belonged to even Rohin Reddy, and it could have been given by the chief minister, whose residence is located close to Rohin Reddy’s office.

She said this was not the only incident where her mother was being targeted.

‘His bidder’ versus ‘our bidder’ for Medaram contract

She went on to say that with regard to the contract pertaining to the developmental works at Medaram Sammakka-Saralamma temple for Rs 71 crore, though “her person” filed the zero bid, revenue minister Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy got “his binami” to file the tender with 5 percent excess bid.

“Ponguleti called my mother and asked her to get our bidder withdraw from the tender and got it,” she alleged.

Transferring endowments land to gated community builders

She also mentioned that with regard to a gated community of villas in Manchirevula near Hyderabad, there is a piece of land which belongs to the endowments department, which the builders were requesting the government to hand over to them for using it as a road to enter the community, in return for a piece of commercial land which could be transferred to the endowments department.

“My mother signed the file pertaining to the said land, and sought the chief minister’s approval. The chief minister who was in Japan at the time, immediately engaged his brothers Kondal Reddy and Tirupathi Reddy to make the deal instead. You know his brothers are calling the shots around Manchirevula,” she told media persons.

Reddys ganging up against a BC woman

Not stopping at there, Sushmitha accused the “Reddys in the Congress government” of ganging up against her mother, who happens to be a backward class (BC) woman.

“While Rahul Gandhi is talking about BCs, Revanth Reddy is working against them,” she alleged.

She accused chief minister’s political adviser Vem Narender Reddy, Rohin Reddy and Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy of conspiring against her mother.

She dared the police to get the call records and trace the mobile signal points of Rohin Reddy, Sumanth, Revanth Reddy and others allegedly involved in the settlement with Deccan Cements, to find out the facts.

Surekha’s issues in the past

For the past several months there have been differences between Konda Surekha and the Congress MLAs from the undivided Warangal region.

After the comments of Surekha against Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president KT Rama Rao (KTR) with regard to the break-up between the former Tollywood couples Akkineni Naga Chaitanya and Samantha, it turned out to be a major embarrassment for the Congress, landing her in a defamation suit filed by KTR.

The most recent of her issues was regarding the tender for Medaram Jatara contract, and the latest one erupted after the removal of her OSD, her close relative.

BRS and BJP grab the opportunity

After the skeletons were out of the closet on Wednesday night, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president N Ramchander Rao held a press conference and told the media that the issue between the Congress ministers proved that Congress stood for “corruption, extortion and misrule.”

BRS leader RS Praveen Kumar too left no opportunity to point his fingers at the Congress.

“There is a deep-state behind the cabinet, which happens in Rohin Reddy’s guest house,” he alleged, adding that a mafia rule was happening in the Telangana cabinet.

Rohin Reddy denies any role

Both the BJP and BRS leaders used Konda Surekha’s issue to seek votes from the voters in the wake of the upcoming Jubilee Hills by-election scheduled to be held on November 11.

Meanwhile, Rohin Reddy claimed that he came to know about the Deccan Cements issue only through Sumanth, and that he was nowhere involved in any discussion with the company’s representatives.