Sonia orders probe into Jalayagnam

The Congress High Command has decided to appoint an internal committee to look into the continuous allegations regarding the Polavaram dam and the contractors involved.

The irrigation minister, Mr Ponnala Laxmaiah, returned from New Delhi on Saturday after submitting details on the Polavaram tenders and the progress made till now. He met Mr Ahmed Patel, the political secretary to the Congress president, and few other senior leaders to explain details about the Polavaram project and alternatives suggested by the engineering expert, Mr T. Hanumantha Rao.

Sources close to the minister said that Mrs Sonia Gandhi was upset when she learnt that two contracting agencies had allegedly been paid Rs 250 crore without actually doing any work.

M/S B. Seenaiah and Company and M/S Madhucon Projects, a company owned by Telugu Desam parliamentary party leader, Mr Nama Nageswara Rao, were awarded the project works and paid mobilisation advance during 2005-09. Since both the companies had failed to start the work, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy government had cancelled the work and decided to go for fresh tenders.

The Congress senior leaders in Delhi have apparently expressed their displeasure over the issue and asked Mr Ponnala why the government could not recover the money from the contractors as they had failed to execute the tender.

Sources also revealed that the Governor, Mr E.S.L. Narasimhan, has also submitted a report on the Jalayagnam progress and irrigation experts in the party are studying both Mr Ponnala’s report and the Governor’s report to identify the flaws in the programme.

After returning from New Delhi, Mr Ponnala went to the Chief Minister to update him with the details of his visit. It may be recalled that Mr Ponnala Laxmaiah had himself requested Mr K. Rosaiah to appoint an inquiry committee to probe into the allegation levelled by some of the senior leaders in the Congress. The Chief Minister, however, had declined to act on that request and instead had expressed serious concern that the public criticism by a senior leader would dent the image of the party.

In Friday’s Cabinet meeting, the Chief Minister made it clear that under no circumstances would the Polavaram design be changed and directed other ministers to defend the government stand on the dam.