Veteran Kapu leader and former minister Mudragada Padmanabham joined the ruling YSR Congress on Friday. He along with his son Giri reached the chief minister’s camp office in Tadepalli on the day and joined the party.

Mudragada also tried to join the Jana Sena initially. He seems to have held talks with Jana Sena leaders who promised that Pawan Kalyan would visit his house in Kirlampudi and give Jana Sena membership to Mudragada. However, this did not happen and Mudragada wrote a letter to Pawan Kalyan stating that he would not join the Jana Sena.

Earlier, Mudragada gave a call to his supporters to come along with him to Tadepalli to join the YSR Congress. However, he changed his plans for security reasons and went to Tadepalli on his own along with his son.

Mudragada had been fighting for the cause of the Kapus for over several years. He led several movements during the TDP regime between 2014 and 2019. He held a massive public meeting in Tuni where the angry mob set the government vehicles and a train on fire.

The TDP regime booked several cases on Mudragada and his supporters for the violence. However, the YSR Congress government withdrew all the cases and freed the Kapu leader from the cases.

The Kapu leader has strong influence in the community in the two Godavari districts. He has strong followers in the two districts, whose number might change the electoral equations.