Ponguleti continues to draw flak on social media over comments on Karimnagar Collector

Even the Minister’s well wishers and political analysts who support the Congress also expressed dismay at his attitude

Khammam: Nearly four days later, social media is still abuzz with strong criticism against Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy for his insulting remarks against Karimnagar district Collector Pamela Satpathy, with many commenting that it was the Minister who actually lacked common sense.

The Minister had snubbed the Collector at an official programme attended by Union Minister for Urban Development Manohar Lal Khattar and others in Karimnagar last Friday. A video clip showing the Minister expressing anger at the Collector and asking ‘Don’t you have common sense? What are you doing, what is this nonsense, where is the Superintendent of Police’ had gone viral on social media.

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In a bid to cover the Minister’s livid behaviour, messages from his supporters have been posted on social media saying that Srinivas Reddy was annoyed at being pushed aside several times by the police during the programme and his remarks were directed at the police and not at the Collector.

But there are no takers for that explanation and damage was already done to the image of the Minister, who drew flak from different sections of the society with memes as well as negative comments.

Even the Minister’s well wishers and political analysts who support the Congress also expressed dismay at his attitude. They suggested that being a Cabinet member and assumed to be the number two in the government, Srinivas Reddy should have maintained decorum.

Speaking harshly with a senior IAS officer, moreover with a female officer, in the presence of officials, ministers, elected members and the media reflects badly on the government and the Chief Minister as well. The ministers should be given an orientation course on how to behave with the officials, suggested an analyst.

Official sources remind that this is not the first time that a popular leader like Srinivas Reddy acted intolerantly with government officials. In 2018, when he was an MP, he spoke harshly with a female tahsildar of Khammam urban mandal at a programme in Khammam making her cry. That incident sparked a controversy at the time. Similarly, Srinivas Reddy made harsh comments against a Collector who was absent from a Collectors’ meeting held in erstwhile Warangal district some time ago.

There is a feeling among official circles that the Minister should have taken action against the officials responsible for the security failure, otherwise he should have taken the matter to the notice of the Chief Minister. Reprimanding a Collector, who is known as an honest and hard working official, publicly was not right, officials feel.

Meanwhile, Satpathy, apparently upset at the incident, shared her grief poetically. She posted a poem from LE Bowman’s book ‘The Evolution of a girl’- “I am a woman of seasons. I burn, I bloom. I strike. I turn to ice; sometimes I melt away” – on her social media accounts.