IT Minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah has suffered a setback when the Supreme Court upheld the High Court judgment to recount votes in his election.Ponnala was elected to the Assembly from the Jangaon constituency of Warangal district in 2009 over his TRS rival by a slender majority.
Kommuri Pratap Reddy, the defeated TRS candidate, had filed a petition in the High Court challenging Ponnala’s election. He contended that 80 votes were irregularly added to Ponnala and the invalid votes of postal ballot were also added to his account.
Accepting the contention, the High Court ordered recounting of votes. Then, Ponnala challenged the High Court’s judgment in the Supreme Court. His counsel argued that there was no evidence to show that his client’s election was irregular. However, the Apex Court did not accept the argument of Ponnala’s lawyer. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on the IT minister for wasting its time.
Responding to the judgment, Ponnala said that there was no truth in the argument of the petitioner. Stating that truth would ultimately win, he said he was not afraid of anything.
TRS CANDIDATE HAILS JUDGMENT
Kommuri Pratap Reddy, the defeated TRS candidate, has welcomed the Supreme Court’s judgment. He said that with the judgment, it became clear that Ponnala had resorted to irregularities. He demanded that Ponnala resign from both posts as minister and MLA if he had any moral values. He said that Ponnala should come forward voluntarily for recounting.
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