Minister of Information Technology and Communications Ponnala Lakshmaiah, on Saturday, stated that work on the Handri-Neeva Project was executed in a transparent manner during his stint as the irrigation minister.
Talking to media persons, Ponnala Lakshmaiah denied the allegations leveled by Bhanu Kiran in his confessional statement to the CID.
Bhanu had said that he and Maddelacheruvu Suri had threatened contractors, preventing them from submitting their tender applications for the Handri-Neeva project. This way, they got the Rs. 178 crore project allotted in favour of J K Constructions, GVR Constructions and Coastal Constructions.
However, Ponnala Lakshmaiah said that he would comment on the issue after he gets a copy of Bhanu Kiran's confession statement from the probing agency.
Ponnala attributed the delay in the construction of Pranahita-Chevella projects to the opposition parties, Telugu Desam Party and Bharatiya Janata Party.
The minister also said that there were no differences over the selection of aspirant S Samma Rao from Parakala Assembly constituency in the by-elections. He said that Warangal District congress committee president Gandra Venkata Ramana Reddy himself had admitted that the High Command's decision was final in the selection of poll candidates. (INN)
filed in:Irrigation, Ponnala Lakshmaiah, Bhanu Kiran, Maddelacheruvu Suri