NEW DELHI: Former Telangana minister Konda Surekha, who was recently dropped from chief minister A Revanth Reddy’s Cabinet, on Sunday said she would remain with the Congress and contest the next Assembly elections in 2028.Addressing a meeting of her supporters in Warangal, Surekha said she and her husband Konda Murali would continue working for the people irrespective of whether she held any official position.“We are told not to go anywhere (join any other party) and that the party will take care of us. We are telling them that we have no intention to join any other party. We will continue in Congress. We will definitely contest on behalf of Congress.

We will win and ensure Congress returns to power,” she said.Surekha also expressed confidence that she would receive the Congress ticket to contest from the Warangal East constituency in the 2028 Assembly polls. She said she would be re-elected as an MLA and become a minister again.

Surekha says Congress leadership is in touch

Her remarks came amid reports that the Congress leadership has been reaching out to her following her removal from the state Cabinet.Surekha said she had been receiving calls and was being told not to join any other party.

She reiterated that she had no intention of leaving the Congress.She said she and Murali would continue to work on people's issues and ensure development in the constituency even without holding government posts.

Removed from cabinet after controversy

Surekha was dropped from the Cabinet on September 3 following a controversy over remarks made against Revanth Reddy and others by her daughter, Konda Sushmitha Patel.Surekha had subsequently accused the chief minister of resorting to “blackmail politics” to secure her removal, claiming that the party high command was not in favour of the move.In earlier remarks, Surekha had questioned the decision to remove her, saying she had neither committed corruption nor been given an opportunity to explain herself.She had also defended her daughter, arguing that her comments were personal and should not be attributed to her.Surekha had questioned why she should be held responsible for remarks made by her adult daughter and referred to controversial statements made by other Congress leaders while questioning the action against her.She had also challenged the party leadership to take action against her and met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge in Delhi as the high command considered disciplinary action.

Other changes in Telangana Congress

The disciplinary action against Surekha was also accompanied by the removal of veteran Congress leader G Chinna Reddy as vice-chairman of the Telangana Planning Board.

His removal followed a disciplinary committee recommendation over his remarks against Wanaparthy MLA T Megha Reddy.Meanwhile, Revanth Reddy announced three appointments: Gadwal Vijayalakshmi as vice-chairperson of the Telangana Planning Board, Nerella Sharada as chairperson of the Telangana State Commission for Women and former Rajya Sabha MP G Sudha Rani as chairperson of the Kakatiya Urban Development Authority.