Congress leaders from Telangana are once again up in arms over irrigation issues.
The Congress leader, Mr Palvai Govardhana Reddy, on Sunday demanded the resignation of the irrigation minister, Mr Ponnala Laxmiah, for alleged scams and for his “failure” to contain irregularities.
Telangana Congress leaders met at Palvai’s residence for the second day on Sunday and reviewed the schemes taken up under Jalayagnam. The Nalgonda MP, Mr Gutta Sukhender Reddy, said that he had written to the Congress president, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, requesting her to take action against various corrupt activities and irregularities under the Jalayagnam projects. Mrs Gandhi has directed the government through AP party affairs in-charge Mr Veerappa Moily to explain “irregularities”, he said.
The government was ignoring suggestions by engineers to change the designs of the Polavaram dam. It was pushing through the tender process at a higher cost, he said. They said that a delegation of leaders would go to Delhi and inform Mrs Gandhi about the situation.
When reporters brought the charges to the notice of Mr Laxmiah, he said that he did not need to resign and the charges were baseless. He added that he had clarified the allegations several times in the past. He said the design for the Polavaram dam had been approved by the Centre and state governments.
