Hyderabad, June 14: Senior Congress leaders and some MPs of the Telangana region have demanded that Major Irrigation Minister Ponnala Laxmaiah resign owning responsibility for irregularities in the State Government’s prestigious “Jalayagnam’’ programme in the region.
They said that if the minister was not willing to resign, Chief Minister K Rosaiah should remove him from the Cabinet.
The seniors alleged that many senior officials of the Irrigation department, including CVSK Sarma, the then principal secretary to the department, and other higher officials were “involved in the misdeeds’’.
They urged the Chief Minister to review the programme and streamline the programme.
The seniors also demanded that the government change the design of the Polavaram project and build 11 barrages instead of the proposed high dam, as the present design was “most harmful for both regions of the State.’’ They decided to submit a detailed memorandum to AICC president Sonia Gandhi and seek justice for Telangana under Jalayagnam.
Senior Congress leaders, MPs and MLCs today met at the house of P Govardhan Reddy and decided to continue their fight against the programme.
Disclosing details of the meeting, Govardhan Reddy said Ponnala Laxmaiah was responsible for the massive corruption. The minister should quit his post, and a high-level inquiry should look into the charges against him.
“In a review meeting, the chief minister was surprised as to why the department paid Rs 960 crore to Pranahita-Chevella project contractors,’’ the Congress senior leader pointed out.
MP Manda Jagannatham demanded that the State Government review the Polavaram design, as the present one would entail submergence of nearly 292 tribal villages.
Nalgonda M P G Sukhender Reddy said the present design had grave implications for both Andhra and Telangana regions.
He recalled that Sir Arthur Cotton preferred barrages to dams, he said.
Mahabubab a d MP Balaram Naik, MLC AR Amos and several other leaders took part in the meeting.
–Agencies