Hyderabad : In a significant political development, Ponnala Lakshmaiah, a seasoned leader and former TPCC chief, has announced his departure from the Congress party. His decision comes as a response to what he perceives as profound injustices towards the backward classes within the party.
Emotions ran high as Ponnala Lakshmaiah made this announcement, marking the end of his four-decade-long association with the Congress. He explained that he could no longer endure the humiliation and marginalization experienced by himself and other leaders from backward classes within the party.
One of the crucial grievances that Ponnala Lakshmaiah raised was the prioritization of individual interests over the collective welfare of the party. He pointed out that new entrants were being unjustly promoted to positions of power, diminishing the roles of seasoned leaders.
Ponnala Lakshmaiah also shared a troubling incident where a delegation of 50 backward class leaders from Telangana, seeking preferential treatment for their community in the distribution of election tickets, was denied an audience with All India Congress Committee (AICC) leaders. Furthermore, he expressed his disappointment at being unable to secure an appointment with AICC General Secretary K.C. Venugopal, which spanned over a ten-day period.
In his resignation letter addressed to AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, Ponnala Lakshmaiah lamented the unjust blame heaped upon him for the party’s defeat in Telangana during the 2014 elections, despite the Congress party’s nationwide setbacks. He criticized the party for its failure to address the lack of progress in the 2018 elections and for failing to take corrective actions. Instead, he noted, additional positions were allocated without merit.
Ponnala Lakshmaiah, a prominent leader hailing from the Munnur Kapu backward class community in Jangaon district, has previously served as a minister under five different chief ministers in undivided Andhra Pradesh. Notably, he held the irrigation portfolio in Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy’s cabinet and later managed the information technology portfolio in Kiran Kumar Reddy’s government. After earning a Master’s degree from Oklahoma University, Ponnala Lakshmaiah’s political journey began when he joined the Congress party after his return to India in 1978. He was elected to the Andhra Pradesh Assembly from Jangaon in 1989, serving for three consecutive terms until his defeat in 2018.
In a significant twist, it is widely speculated that Ponnala Lakshmaiah may join the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS). This possibility was hinted at in his resignation letter, where he praised BRS for empowering even smaller backward class leaders by appointing them as Members of Parliament and Members of Legislative Councils.
Ponnala Lakshmaiah’s departure presents a substantial challenge for the Congress party in the lead-up to the highly anticipated Telangana Assembly elections scheduled for the next month. It remains to be seen how the party will address the concerns raised by the departing leader regarding the treatment of backward classes within the organization.
