HYDERABAD: There seems to be no calm after the storm in the Telangana Congress. In just a matter of over one and a half years of its formation, ministers are pulling in different directions, with egos clashing and tempers running high.
While the ruling party is already on the back foot over its bungled handling of BC reservations in local body elections and the Jubilee Hills bypoll, internal feuds have only added fuel to the fire. Ministers are reportedly at each other’s throats over overlapping portfolios and turf issues.
At the heart of the chaos are ministers Konda Surekha, Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy, Ponnam Prabhakar, Adluri Laxman Kumar and Vivek Venkataswamy, whose recent squabbles have set the grapevine abuzz.
The high command, it appears, has its hands full trying to douse the political flames and pacify those miffed over ticket allocations in the Jubilee Hills byelection. Party insiders say the matter is likely to land on the high command’s table once again as tempers refuse to cool.
The latest storm blew up when Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar, at a public event also attended by Labour Minister Vivek Venkataswamy, made snide remarks about his Cabinet colleague Adluri Laxman Kumar. The off-the-cuff comment snowballed into a full-blown controversy, forcing Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and TPCC president B Mahesh Kumar Goud to step in and broker peace.
Though the issue seemed to die down for a while, old wounds reopened when Vivek Venkataswamy, in another meeting, raked up the same controversy — this time naming Laxman Kumar again. The latter, unwilling to take it lying down, hit back with equal force and said that he was leaving the matter “to the minister’s conscience”.
Meanwhile, in Warangal district, yet another battlefront has opened up. Endowments Minister Konda Surekha is reportedly seeing red over Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy “throwing his weight around”. Surekha is said to be furious that Ponguleti allegedly sanctioned Rs 71 crore worth of contracts for Medaram Jatara works without consulting her.
Adding insult to injury, Srinivasa Reddy reportedly visited Medaram without informing her. Surekha, according to party insiders, even contemplated taking her grievance to the high command’s notice.
Srinivasa Reddy, however, brushed off the allegations, saying he was merely following the chief minister’s directives and had “no knowledge” of any complaint against him.
The incident has once again exposed cracks in the ruling party’s facade of unity. The leadership’s inability to nip the discord in the bud has only made matters worse.
According to sources, the AICC leadership has taken a serious view of the developments and has sought a detailed report from the party’s Telangana in-charge on the internal rumblings.
No interim relief in ‘immature’ plea against liquor policy
Justice NV Shravan Kumar of the Telangana High Court refused interim relief to a petitioner challenging the state’s new liquor policy for 2025–27, terming the plea premature. The court observed that framing such a policy was a government function and added, “If you are not interested, you need not participate. Nobody is encouraged to drink or smoke.” Petitioner G Anil Kumar sought to set aside GO 93 and a related memo, alleging that the non-refundable Rs 3 lakh application fee and lack of concessions for Goud, SC, and ST applicants were unfair.
HC adjourns Hearing in Bhoodan land case to October 14
Justice K Sujana of the Telangana High Court adjourned to October 14, 2025, the hearing in a criminal revision case seeking registration of an FIR and probe against IAS officer Naveen Mittal and others over the alleged Bhoodan land scam. The case involves Bhoodan lands in Nagaram village, Maheshwaram mandal, allegedly transferred by the Bhoodan Yagna Board during Mittal’s tenure and later sold to EIPL Constructions, linked to leaders of the previous BRS government. The ED is conducting a parallel probe having summoned officials, including the Rangareddy collector.
