Infighting within Telangana‘s ruling Congress escalated Wednesday after police turned up at Environment Minister Konda Surekha‘s home in Hyderabad’s Jubilee Hills searching for her former aide, N Sumanth, 24 hours after he was removed from his post over corruption claims.
Surekha is the Congress’ MP from Warangal and an influential OBC leader. And Sumanth faces allegations of trying to extort money – by waving a gun – from an official of Deccan Cements Pvt Ltd.
The arrival of the cops – a special team that works directly under the Hyderabad Police Commissioner – was received with scorn by the minister’s daughter, Konda Susmita, who accused the Chief Minister Revanth Reddy’s office of targeting Sumanth and her family by forcing Sumanth to state on record that her father, Konda Murali, had ordered the extortion.
“My mother and father are being targeted by the state government. My mother is a minister, and look how they’re treating us. We don’t understand what we’ve done wrong. There are murder attempts on us, and this is a murder attempt,” she told reporters who gathered quickly.
In a confrontation with the police, she accused the party of harassing a minister from the backward classes even as senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi campaigns for OBCs.
Hyderabad | Daughter of Telangana Minister Konda Surekha, Konda Sushmitha, has alleged that her mother is being targeted by the state government.
Konda Sushmitha said, “My mother and father are being targeted by the state government. My mother is a minister, and look how they’re… pic.twitter.com/oKWZz5zPVt
— ANI (@ANI) October 16, 2025
She also protested any attempt to take Sumanth into custody without a warrant.
Insisting Sumanth had been wrongly targeted – on orders from the Chief Minister’s office – she counter-accused Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy and MLA Kadiyam Srihari of conspiracy, and also pointed to Vem Narender Reddy, the Chief Minister’s advisor.
She also claimed the Chief Minister himself was involved in the conspiracy.
She also claimed another aide of the Chief Minister, Rohin Reddy, was at the meeting with Deccan Cements, and wanted to know why he has faced no action so far.
When contacted Rohin Reddy denied any link to Sumanth.
As the stand-off continued, Surekha and Sumanth emerged from the house and drove away.
The rift began after Surekha – who also handles the Department of Endowments – and Srinivasa Reddy butted heads over a Rs 71 crore contract for infrastructure works in Medaram.
Surekha has alleged the contract was awarded without consulting her, and has accused Reddy, who handles Revenue and the Housing portfolios, of interfering in her department.