Ponnala Lakshmaiah

In this Telugu name, the surname is Ponnala.

Ponnala Lakshmaiah (born 15 February 1944) is an Indian politician. He is a member of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS). He is a former minister for Information Technology and Communications for the state of Andhra Pradesh, India.^[2] He was also a member of the legislative assembly of Andhra Pradesh, and a member of the All India Congress Committee.^[3]

Ponnala Lakshmaiah
1st President of the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee
In office 11 March 2014 – 2 March 2015
AICC President	Sonia Gandhi
Preceded by	Office Established
Succeeded by	N. Uttam Kumar Reddy
Minister of Major Irrigation, IT & Communications Government of Andhra Pradesh
In office 2009–2014
Governor	N. D. Tiwari E. S. L. Narasimhan
Chief Minister	Konijeti Rosaiah N. Kiran Kumar Reddy
Succeeded by	Devineni Uma Maheswara Rao Palle Raghunatha Reddy
Member of Legislative Assembly Andhra Pradesh
In office 1999–2014
Preceded by	Charagonda Raji Reddy
Succeeded by	Telangana Assembly Created
Constituency	Jangaon
In office 1985–1989
Preceded by	Asireddy Narsimha Reddy
Succeeded by	Charagonda Raji Reddy
Constituency	Jangaon
Personal details
Born	Ponnala Lakshmaiah (1944-02-15) 15 February 1944 (age 81) Quilashahpur, Hyderabad State, British India (now Telangana, India)[1]
Nationality	India
Political party	Bharat Rashtra Samithi (2023 - present)
Other political affiliations	Indian National Congress (1980 - 2023)
Spouse	Ponnala Arunadevi

Early life

Ponnala Lakshmaiah was born in the village of Quilashahpur, located in the heart of the Telangana region, into the Telugu-speaking Hindu family of Ponnala Radha (Radhamma) and Ponnala Rama Kishtaiah. He is married to Ponnala Arunadevi and has two children. He earned his M. S. Mechanical Engineering degree from Oklahoma State University in 1969.^[4][5]

Having come in contact with the World Bank and its programs for developing countries, he was attracted by rural development projects in India. He returned to India and worked to generate rural employment in the region of his birthplace. With his first project, he made improvements in areas such as poultry breeding, helping employ thousands of uneducated people. He also promoted the development of the dairy industry.^[6]

Political career

In 1980, Ponnala began working with the Congress Party. In the 1992 Congress Plenary session at Tirupati, he successfully handled the foreign delegates, including prime ministers of neighboring countries.

In 1986, he launched a protest under the name "Samagra Pochampad Karyacharana Samithi" and worked with District Leaders to modify the irrigation scheme to benefit the chronically drought-prone area. Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao laid the foundation on 30 June 1993. The project was under execution in "Jalayagnam" at a cost of Rs. 30 billion.^[7]

He served four terms in the Assembly from the Jangaon Constituency in Warangal District.

On 11 March 2014, he was named president of the newly created Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC).

On 13 October 2023, he submitted his resignation to the Indian National Congress(INC).^[8]

On 16 October 2023, he joined Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS).^[9]

Ponnala Foundation

Ponnala Lakshmaiah said that the Ponnala Foundation started by him would give away awards to mathematics genius every year in memory of the Indian math genius Srinivasa Ramanujan, in order to promote the subject among children.^[10]

Awards

• Award for Outstanding Contribution by an Alumnus – Oklahoma State University (School of business) – Hall of Fame