Minister Ponguleti issues daring open challenge: ‘Guilty? Punish me or my son’

Revenue, Housing and Information & Public Relations Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy said that he or his son must be punished if they are found guilty of any wrongdoing. He said it was wrong to evade cases filed by opposition parties and asserted that he would not misuse his position to influence the police.

Speaking to the media at the Secretariat on Friday, Srinivas Reddy said that although he is in government, he would never instruct the police to stop registering cases. “If a mistake is proved, the police will act after registering a case and conducting an inquiry,” he said.

Referring to reports against his son, the minister remarked, “If no mistake happened, I leave it to the wisdom of the person who published the news.”

It may be recalled that Khammam police registered cases against Raghava Constructions, owned by the minister’s family, and several others for allegedly demolishing structures on private land using JCBs. Cases were booked under charges related to attack, forceful action and violence.

On HILT policy

Responding to questions on the HILT policy, Srinivas Reddy rejected BRS allegations and said that key provisions of the policy originated during the previous BRS regime. He questioned whether KTR, as minister, had approved those files. He pointed out that Kokapet and Neopolis plots were auctioned during the last government’s tenure, and the ORR management was also put up for auction. “KCR as Chief Minister and KTR as Industries Minister converted land while accepting bribes from those they favoured,” he alleged.

He cited the example of the Congress government previously leasing 40 acres in LB Nagar to PV Raju’s SIRIS Pharma and said that despite public complaints of groundwater pollution, it was the BRS government that converted the chemical industrial zone into a residential zone. The same was done in IDPL, he said.

“KTR is spreading toxicity, and even poison has its limits,” he remarked. “When it comes to the HILT policy, BJP and BRS are playing a coordinated drama—one scripting it, the other executing it.”

On housing

The minister said the government will sanction Indiramma houses in urban areas over the next three years. He said G+3 and G+4 structures will be taken up, and the state will revive a housing model similar to the existing Kukatpally Housing Board colony to support middle-class families. He added that the government is currently constructing 3.82 lakh houses across Telangana.