Happy to see Ponnala shunted from Irrigation Ministry: Congress MLC

Charging that former Major Irrigation Minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah had turned the ‘Jalayagnam’ irrigation projects into ‘Dhanyagnam’ (money worship), senior Congress leader and MLC Rajalingam on Saturday expressed satisfaction on Mr Lakshmaiah being shifted to Ministry of Information Technology.

Talking to media persons at the CLP Office, Mr Rajalingam said that he ‘felt good’ about Mr Lakshmaiah’s portfolio being changed.

When asked to comment about the possibility that Mr Lakshmaiah is also in the race for the PCC chief post, Mr Rajalingam said that the Congress party is not in such dire straits.

He said that the party has suffered a major jolt by the death of former chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy and has weakened. If Mr Lakshmaiah is made the PCC chief, the party’s base will be eroded further, the MLC stated.

Mr Rajalingam said that at the time of Mr Lakshmaiah’s handling of the Major Irrigation Minister, there were no proper accounts for the money spent on the project. He added that till now no single project under the massive irrigation scheme has been completed.

Mr Rajalingam, who hails from Warangal like the present IT Minister, said that the people of the district, who had voted for Mr Lakshmaiah are ruing their decision, since he had done nothing for them.