Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy, who has been projecting himself as the No 2 in the cabinet, seems to be sidelined by Chief Minister Revanth Reddy in recent times. The minister, who used to comment on every aspect of the governance, is nowadays seen as almost silent.
He used to hold press conferences every now and then and make announcements like Laxmi bombs and arrests and creating political ruckus. He used to be very close to CM Revanth Reddy. But now Ponguleti’s silence has become a topic of discussion in political circles.
After a long time, he was seen in the state cabinet meeting held on Thursday. However, there is a discussion that he has become isolated in the Congress party. It is known that Minister Ponguleti’s own party MLAs have made allegations of land encroachment against him.
It is known that Jadcharla MLA Anirudh Reddy had indirectly made allegations against Minister Ponguleti regarding a piece of land and complained to the Chief Minister about this. It is known that some other Congress MLAs have also made several allegations against Minister Ponguleti. All this has also gone to the top.
There has also been a heated discussion about who is behind the allegations against Ponguleti? Since then, close friends say that he has intentionally decided to remain silent for time being due to the intense negative environment.
From the time the government was formed until recently, there was good coordination between CM Revanth Reddy and Minister Ponguleti. Wherever there was a meeting, both of them would attend. He would put a seat next to Ponguleti. Even on stage, the two would chat like crazy. But now that situation has completely changed.
It is known that the CM has distanced himself from him as a precautionary measure due to allegations that Ponguleti is in league with the BJP. There was a campaign that Minister Ponguleti was eyeing the CM seat and was in league with the BJP as part of this.
Even though IT raids were conducted in his son’s foreign watch case, it did not go ahead. Earlier some IT raids were also conducted. But nothing is going against him. This has further raised suspicions about the relationship between Minister Ponguleti and the Center. With this, there is a discussion in the party that CM Revanth Reddy has made land allegations with the MLAs with the intention of weakening the minister.