The big question being debated in the coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh is about the attacks on Bharatiya Janata Party AP unit president Kanna Lakshminarayana. The BJP AP chief was attacked by the ruling Telugu Desam Party activists at Ananthapur first and later in Kavali of Nellore district.
Going by these two incidents, it looks like the TDP leaders and activists are targeting Kanna more than the other BJP leaders. In fact, it was Somu Veerraju and G V L Narasimha Rao who have been indulging in verbal attack on the TDP in the last three months. Though leaders like Purandheswari and Vishnukumar Raju also criticise the TDP, they are not as aggressive as Narasimha Rao and Veerraju. However, none of them is seen as target of the TDP. The TDP had engaged MLC Buddha Venkanna to hit back at Somu Veerraju and AP Planning Board vice-chairman Kutumba Rao to take on BJP’s Narasimha Rao.
However, the physical attacks are held only on Kanna Lakshminarayana and it shows how serious the TDP is towards the BJP new president. The reason for TDP targeting Kanna more is seen from his caste background. As a Kapu leader, Kanna is popular in the coastal districts as he was one of the close associates of Kapu icon late Vangaveeti Mohana Ranga Rao. He was part of the Kapu leaders like Miriyala Venkata Rao, Pilla Venkateswara Rao and Mudragada Padmanabham, who rallied with Vangaveeti Mohana Ranga in 1980s and united the Kapu families.
Kanna Lakshminarayana enjoys greater support in the community, equal to Mudragada Padmanabham. The TDP fears that its base in the Kapu community is eroding with Mudragada leading the agitation against the government for BC Status. Now, with Kanna heading the BJP in the State, the TDP is worried about losing its base, which is the key for the party’s victory in the State. It is the Kapu vote that had brought the TDP to power in the last elections and the fear of losing that is seen as the reason for the TDP men to resort to physical attack on Kanna.
If Kanna is targeted like this by the TDP, it is for sure that the party would lose the vote of the Kapus in the next election.
