Ponnam Prabhakar apologises to Adluri Laxman, ends ‘buffalo remark’ row

HYDERABAD: Bringing an end to days of controversy, the dispute between ministers Ponnam Prabhakar and Adluri Laxman Kumar over the alleged “buffalo” comment was resolved on Wednesday, with Ponnam personally tendering an apology.

At a meeting convened by Telangana Congress president B Mahesh Kumar Goud at his residence, both ministers met and reconciled in the presence of senior party leaders. Accepting the apology, Laxman appealed to members of the Madiga community and other Scheduled Castes to withdraw their protests.

‘Words taken out of context’
Ponnam maintained that he had never referred to Laxman using the word “buffalo”, saying his remarks had been taken out of context. “Laxman and I share over 30 years of friendship and political association. We both rose from the grassroots, and I would never use such language against anyone,” he said, expressing regret for the misunderstanding.

He added that politically motivated individuals had distorted his comments, causing confusion and hurt. Ponnam said he was “deeply pained” to know that his colleague had been offended by the misinterpretation.

Laxman calls for calm
Laxman accepted the apology and said the controversy should now be treated as closed. Thanking the Madiga community for standing by him, he urged them to end their protests. Calling Ponnam a “BC bidda” and an elder brother, Laxman said their unity reflected the Congress’s commitment to social harmony.

Both leaders reiterated their resolve to work together under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, chief minister A Revanth Reddy, Mahesh Goud, and AICC Telangana in-charge Meenakshi Natarajan to strengthen the party and uphold social justice.