Ponnam refuses to apologise to Jagadish Reddy

Hyderabad, Feb 23 (INN): Congress senior leader and former Karimnagar MP Ponnam Prabhakar on Monday asked Energy Minister G Jagadish Reddy to file a case against him, if he wishes, as he was having required evidence to proof charges of corruption against the minister.

Addressing a press conference at Gandhi Bhavan here, Ponnam claimed that he possess enough evidence to prove that Jagadish Reddy received 5% kickbacks from private colleges to clear fee reimbursement dues. He said he was not afraid of facing any cases and would expose the entire deal at an appropriate time.

Ponnam also ridiculed Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao’s claim of having zero tolerance to corruption. He said a Dalit leader, former Deputy Chief Minister Dr T Rajaiah was sacked without citing any reasons. But the Chief Minister is not taking any action against an Upper Caste leader despite receiving several complaints with proofs.

The Congress leader demanded an independent probe into the allegations that he leveled against the minister and said that the probe could not be fair unless Jagadish Reddy is dropped from cabinet.

Meanwhile, Congress MLA Sampath Kumar too claimed that the Congress party possesses all the details of kickbacks received by the TRS ministers and leader to clear fee reimbursement. He said that the Congress would raise the issue due to the forthcoming session of Legislative Assembly.