Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy – joined the Congress even before the elections. He won... became a minister... and also got key portfolios. So far, everything seemed fine. But over the past one and a half years, many of the statements made by him as a minister have misfired. Not a single one has come true. Even during his official visit to Seoul on behalf of the government, he made dramatic claims saying, “Bombs will explode before we land in Hyderabad.” But to date, not a single bomb he mentioned has exploded. On the other hand, despite not being related to his department, he has often made announcements pertaining to other ministries in the government, drawing criticism. Even Congress leaders are commenting that he constantly tries to create a buzz to project himself unofficially as the number two in the government. There is criticism that he is interfering in the affairs of other ministers and making announcements because of his closeness to Chief Minister Revanth Reddy.
Now, Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy has received a warning—unprecedented in the last year and a half—from PCC President Mahesh Kumar. This has now become a hot topic within the Congress. Party circles are saying this is a problem brought on by the minister himself and nothing else. As usual, Minister Srinivas Reddy recently spoke about the local body elections. However, Ponguleti has no connection whatsoever with the Panchayat Raj Ministry, which is responsible for these elections. That ministry is handled by another minister, Seethakka. Even in the past, Ponguleti made announcements about the panchayat elections, none of which materialized.
Recently, he once again spoke to the media on the same subject. In response to this, PCC President Mahesh Kumar Goud made key comments. He expressed anger, questioning how one could speak to the media about decisions that are supposed to be taken in the cabinet. Mahesh Kumar criticized Ponguleti’s announcement about elections tied to reservation issues. He questioned why one minister is speaking about another's portfolio. TPCC Chief Mahesh Kumar Goud suggested that no one should make announcements without consulting the high command. Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy not only announced that the stage is set for local body elections in Telangana but also claimed that the notification for local elections would be released before the end of this month. He said that election dates would be announced soon and that a decision on local elections would be taken in the cabinet meeting. He stated that MPTC and ZPTC elections would be held first, followed by Sarpanch and municipal elections. However, TPCC Chief Mahesh Goud questioned how Ponguleti could speak about local body elections without consulting the high command.