The saga of Kapu leader Mudragada Padmanabham stepping out of his residence to launch his padayatra to Amaravati, only to be blocked by the cops deployed in Kirlampudi citing that he had not obtained permission from the Police Department is ongoing. Police asking him to seek permission, Mudragada revolting that he will not take permission especially after providing the route map remains as an unchanging pattern.
Several doubts are being raised as to what will happen if Mudragada takes up the march. The TDP leaders are iterating that due to the consequences of the Tuni incident last year, the government doesn’t want to give permission. However, the argument put forth by Kapu JAC is that in the due course of Padayatra for forty days, they will be able to strengthen the Kapus unity and create awareness among them. Consequently, the government is afraid that Kapus will revolt against them massively.
In view of Nandyal by-poll, the ruling party is of the assumption that YSRCP will try to use this Kapu agitation to turn the tables in their favour. In Nandyal, fifty percent people belong to Kapu, Balija and Ontari castes. There is reportedly an active campaign being run to defeat TDP in by-elections among these groups. If Mudragada launches his Padayatra, the strengthen of Kapus will be evident and likewise the government’s failures will be exposed. It might lead to Lathi charge, in case of any unfortunate incidents during the walkathon, ultimately denting the government’s image.
However, reports emerged that Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu sought the help of Jana Sena Party president Pawan Kalyan to defuse the campaign. Despite Kalyan during the press conference saying that Mudragada should be allowed to do Padayatra, the Kapu leader wrote an open letter asking the former not to trust Chandrababu. This did not go down well with the supporters of Jana Sena. They are allegedly suggesting the Kapu leader to write a letter to Jagan who did not mention about Kapus in his Navaratnalu, instead of writing to Kalyan.
Nevertheless, the support for Mudragada from the Kapu community is increasing. The establishment of Kapu Corporation, releasing funds to the corporation, announcements regarding Manjunath Commission by the government weredone only when Mudragada announced or launched a protest. Mudragada had emerged a strong face of the caste.
TDP has been constantly accusing that Mudragada is backed by Opposition YSR Congress Party. The Kapu leader taking a strong objection on the accusation that he is being supported from Jagan Mohan Reddy and Raghuveera Reddy, questioned how much did Chandrababu being opposition leader in 1994 pay to Kapu’s when they started a massive movement that year. He even asked if the Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu took permission for Padayatra when congress was in power in 1994.
While Kapu leaders state that they are not asking for something new but what was promised in election, the ruling party leaders argue that they are in favour of Kapus reservation but against the improper format of Padyatra.
