Information Technology Minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah on Saturday took additional charge of the Endowments Department at the Secretariat, 10 days after Jupally Krishna Rao's resignation was accepted by Governor E S L Narasimhan on June 1.
The Governor handed over the additional responsibility of the Endowments Department to Ponnala after Jupally quit the the Cabinet to demonstrate his commitment towards the cause of a Telangana state.
The former minister had earlier submitted his resignation to the Chief Minister in March, but it was not accepted. Jupally then met the Governor and submitted his resignation, following a stand-off between him and Minister for Information and Public Relations D K Aruna on his padayatra in Gadwel constituency of Mahabubnagar district.
Ponnala had not taken charge of his additional responsibility, as his name was among the possible candidates to succeed former Pradesh Congress Committee president D Srinivas.
However, the High Command opted for Transport Minister Botsa Satyanarayana to head the Congress party in the state. (INN)