Fact Sheet: Ponnala becomes owner's envy!

Major Irrigation Minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah, who managed to retain his portfolio during the last Cabinet reshuffle, has become an envy for the Congressmen.

In a way, Ponnala has become more or less isolated in his Warangal district, except for a few leaders who got benefitted from him. His detractors, who were expected a change in his portfolio, are envious of his fortune, as he allegedly made millions in Jalayagnam. So, the differences among the top leaders of the Congress party in the district came to the fore when he arranged a felicitation for his follower and Warangal Zilla Parishad chairperson L Dhanawanti on completion of her one year in office on Sunday.

It turned out to be a glaringly one-sided affair with only the staunch followers of Ponnala Lakshmaiah attending the meet and others chose to be away from it. Among those top guns who were absent from the meet included; Minister for tribal welfare D S Redya Naik, DCC President and MLC Gandra Venkata Ramana Reddy, city MLA Baswaraju Saraiah, Mulug MLA Podem Veeraiah, DCCB chief Konda Murali, and his wife Shyampet MLA Konda Surekha.

With the absence of top leaders, Ponnala alone had to carry the meet on his own and tried to make light of the absence of top leaders.