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Hyderabad, October 16 (IANS) Former Officer on Special Duty (OSD) N. Telangana Endowment and Forest Minister Konda Surekha, who was in the controversy over saving Sumanth, stayed away from the state cabinet meeting on Thursday.
Surekha did not attend the cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy at the Secretariat.
AICC in-charge for Telangana Meenakshi Natarajan called the minister and his daughter Sushmita to the MLA quarters and instructed them not to talk to the media.
Sushmita, who had accused Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and others of targeting her mother, told media persons that she stood by what she had said last night.
Earlier, Konda Surekha met Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and discussed the issue related to her former OSD.
The Congress leadership has taken a serious note of the incident that took place at Surekha’s residence in Hyderabad late on Wednesday night, when Sushmita resisted the efforts of a police team to arrest Sumanth, whose services as OSD were earlier terminated by the government.
After receiving information about Sumant’s presence, a team of Task Force Police reached the minister’s house in Jubilee Hills.
Surekha’s daughter Sushmita confronted police officials in plain clothes and accused some senior Congress leaders of trying to defame the family.
Sushmita refused to let him enter the house. She had a heated argument with the policemen and wanted them to show her the arrest warrant.
Surekha, who was present in the house, reportedly came out with Sumanth and they left in his car.
Speaking to media persons, Sushmita alleged that some top Congress leaders were behind the attempts to defame her family. He said that his parents are being targeted as part of a conspiracy.
Sushmita alleged that Chief Minister Revanth Reddy’s advisor Vem Narendra Reddy, Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy and MLA Kadiyam Srihari were behind this conspiracy. He also alleged the Chief Minister’s involvement.
Sushmita said that she came to know yesterday that Sumanth has been removed from the post of OSD. In some allegations, a Deccan Cements official was given a gun threat for extortion.
The incident reportedly took place in Huzurnagar, the constituency of Irrigation Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy.
He said when he questioned Chief Minister’s advisor Vem Narendra Reddy, he said that Uttam Kumar Reddy had filed a complaint, but the minister denied filing any complaint.
He claimed that the Chief Minister’s close aide Rohin Reddy was also present at the meeting with Deccan Cements and wanted to know why no action was taken against him.
Sushmita expressed apprehension that those behind the conspiracy may try to force Sumanth to give a statement that he had threatened a Deccan Cements employee at the behest of her father Konda Murali. “This is a conspiracy to arrest my father Konda Murali,” he said.
Sushmita said that one of her father’s gunmen had already been eliminated. He is a former Maoist. How can they lower his security? he asked.
The OSD episode is being seen as a fallout of the tussle over money between Konda Surekha and Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy. Contract worth Rs 71 crore for Medaram Jatara works.
Surekha had accused Srinivas Reddy of interfering in the work of Medaram contract.
Meanwhile, Surekha’s husband and Congress leader Konda Murali on Thursday denied knowledge of her former OSD’s controversy.
Speaking to media persons in Hanumakonda, he also said that he did not know what his daughter Sushmita said in Hyderabad.
–IANS
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