HYDERABAD: The question confronting the Telangana Congress is no longer limited to what action should be taken against Endowments Minister Konda Surekha and Planning Board vice-chairman G Chinna Reddy. Within party circles, the discussion has turned into a key question: How to settle the dispute without allowing it to unsettle the government or deepen divisions within the party.
That is why the proposed Cabinet expansion has acquired an added layer of interest. Senior Congress leaders are expecting the issue to come up for discussion in the first week of next month, with the timing of the expansion itself, before or after the Monsoon session of the Assembly, yet to be settled.
The disciplinary action is also waiting on a familiar Delhi variable. AICC general secretary KC Venugopal is currently abroad and is expected to return to Delhi on September 2. Party sources say the high command is likely to take up the report of the Disciplinary Action Committee after his return.
Gender balance
Behind the formal question of disciplinary action, however, is the more complicated arithmetic of a Cabinet reshuffle. There is talk within the Congress that Surekha could be dropped and another woman MLA from the erstwhile Warangal region brought into the ministry. The argument being discussed is not only about gender balance but also about retaining representation from North Telangana.
This is where the name of young Palakurthi MLA M Yashaswini Reddy has begun doing the rounds. Her possible induction is being linked to another conversation within the party — whether younger MLAs, including those from Gen-Z, should find a place in the Cabinet.
Congress leaders see a wider political calculation in this. With several states heading towards elections next year, younger leaders could provide the party with a new campaign face. AICC leaders are also understood to be encouraging younger MLAs nationally, with Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi involving them in agitations and campaigns on issues such as the NEET examination controversy and competitive examination cancellations in Jharkhand.
For the Telangana Congress, though, the immediate concern is keeping the current dispute from becoming a larger organisational problem. A senior leader said the high command would have to handle the matter carefully, as prolonged action against either side could create divisions among MLAs, ministers and MPs. A Cabinet reshuffle, therefore, is being viewed by some leaders as one possible route to settle several questions at once. As the saying goes, one stone can sometimes serve several purposes.
Social balance
There is also speculation that another minister from a forward community could be dropped as part of a broader exercise in social representation. If Yashaswini Reddy is inducted, leaders believe this could be combined with the inclusion of a BC MLA, addressing competing demands over social balance.
Another TPCC source said a BC representation was under consideration and that the two changes could be worked out together. Two more Cabinet berths are also being discussed for Nizamabad and Rangareddy districts, which currently lack representation in the state ministry.
For now, much depends on what happens in Delhi after Venugopal’s return. In the Telangana Congress, the expectation is that the next round of consultations could determine whether the Surekha-Chinna Reddy dispute is treated as a disciplinary matter on its own or becomes part of a larger political settlement.
