Several Congress MLAs, MLCs and Telangana government Whips mounted a sharp attack on Minister Konda Surekha and demanded that the party leadership take disciplinary action over recent remarks made by her daughter, Konda Sushmitha, against Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy.

Addressing a press conference in Hyderabad on Friday (August 21, 2026), Government Whip Beerla Ilaiah said it was not appropriate for members of the ruling party to publicly criticise the Chief Minister. He demanded that Ms. Surekha respond to and condemn her daughter’s remarks. “Internal matters should be discussed in the CLP [Congress Legislature Party] or other appropriate party forums,” he said, adding that the comments had hurt party workers who had struggled to bring the Congress to power.

Mr. Ilaiah said the Congress government was working to correct the “debts and mistakes” of the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) regime and urged party leaders to work unitedly until Congress senior leader Rahul Gandhi becomes Prime Minister.

The response came after Ms. Surekha’s daughter Ms. Sushmita made unpalatable comments against the Chief Minister over allocation of MLA ticket in the next elections.

Warangal West MLA Naini Rajender Reddy was more forthright, saying those holding positions in the party should not target the Chief Minister publicly for personal or political interests. He called for strict action against anyone violating party discipline, irrespective of their position or caste.

Mr. Rajender Reddy questioned Ms. Surekha’s silence over her daughter’s remarks and said responsibility had to be fixed. He claimed that some people in the party were working against its interests, perhaps at the behest of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and BRS elements. “How many times can we forgive?” he asked, demanding that the party leadership take action against those repeatedly violating discipline.

Khanapur MLA Vedma Bojju said the remarks made by Ms. Sushmitha against the Chief Minister were unacceptable and alleged that Ms. Surekha was avoiding a direct response. To a question, the MLAs said they were seeking action on all the Congress leaders, including Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy and G. Chinna Reddy, saying public criticism by senior leaders could have a damaging impact on party workers and younger leaders.

Shadnagar MLA Veerlapalli Shankar said it was the responsibility of every Congress leader to protect the image of the State government. He asserted that Mr. Revanth Reddy was a strong leader and warned that attempts to undermine his reputation would not be tolerated. He said family members of ministers should also exercise restraint in their public statements and maintained that ministers had a responsibility to respond when such remarks caused embarrassment to the government or party.

Government Whip and MLC Balmuri Venkat said the Congress was a secular party in which leaders belonging to different castes and communities work together. Personal differences could be brought to the notice of the party high command, he said, but nobody should claim to be bigger than the party. Those who believed they were bigger than the Congress could leave the party, he remarked.

The leaders also defended Revanth Reddy government’s performance, saying it had inherited a State burdened by debt and was attempting to restore financial discipline while coordinating with ministers and MLAs.

The press conference was also attended by MLC Basvaraju Saraiah; and MLAs Vemula Veeresham; Revoor Prakash Reddy, Nagaraju, Gandra Satyanarayana Rao, Balu Naik, Mandula Samuel, Vamsikrishna, Rajesh Reddy, Madhusudhan Reddy, Kumbam Anil Kumar Reddy, Bathula Laxma Reddy, Kunduru Jayaveer Reddy and Manohar Reddy.

Published - August 21, 2026 05:03 pm IST