Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy faces a politically testing phase as dissent within the ruling Congress grows, with the removal of two leaders and increasingly open criticism raising questions over his authority in the party and government.
The attention was focused on the impending removal of environment and forests minister Konda Surekha . The Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee had recommended disciplinary action against Surekha for violating party discipline. The All-India Congress Committee (AICC) subsequently approved the action, following which Reddy removed her from the cabinet two days later. Former minister G Chinna Reddy was also recently removed as vice-chairman of the Telangana State Planning Board, a cabinet-rank post. Surekha was held responsible for her daughter Konda Sushmita’s disparaging remarks against the party in general and the chief minister in particular. Chinna Reddy was removed after allegedly accusing the state Congress leadership of selling tickets in the last assembly elections, particularly in Wanaparthy constituency, which he had represented in the past. The action against the two leaders has brought Reddy’s handling of factional tensions into focus. Disciplinary action against a serving minister and a former minister holding a cabinet-rank post has underscored the increasingly open nature of the internal friction.
The disquiet was evident on September 1, when the Revanth Reddy government completed 1,000 days in office. “The main reason for the discontent is that Revanth Reddy is a newcomer to the Congress – he joined the party in 2018, directly from the Telugu Desam Party and went on to become the PCC chief and then the chief minister.
But they could not openly revolt, as he was the choice of the Congress high command,” political analyst Srinivasa Rao Manchala said. “It hurts when individuals with no original roots in the Congress party or the Telangana statehood agitation are wielding state power,” he said at a meeting in Munugode on Wednesday.
