Ponnala Lakshmaiah

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. He was also a member of the legislative assembly of Andhra Pradesh, and a member of the All India Congress Committee.

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.

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.

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.

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).

On 16 October 2023, he joined Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS).

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.

Awards

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