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Ahead of crucial elections, senior Kapu leader likely to join YSRCP
A delegation of YSRCP led by Jakkampudi Ganesh, brother of Rajanagaram MLA Jakkampudi Raja, went to Kirlampudi village in Konaseema district to hold talks with 71-year-old Padmanabham
Ahead of the upcoming assembly and Lok Sabha elections in Andhra Pradesh, the ruling YSR Congress Party on Wednesday invited senior Kapu leader and former minister Mudragada Padmanabham to join the party, people familiar with the matter said.
A delegation of YSRCP led by Jakkampudi Ganesh, brother of Rajanagaram MLA Jakkampudi Raja, went to Kirlampudi village in Konaseema district to hold talks with 71-year-old Padmanabham and invited him to join the party.
YSRCP regional coordinator for East Godavari and Konaseema districts and Lok Sabha member Peddireddy Mithun Reddy also had a telephonic conversation with Padmanabham and told him that YSRCP president and chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy had extended an invitation him to join the party.
“Jagan has sought the Kapu leaders’ support to the YSRCP in the coming elections. He has offered ticket to either Padmanabham or his son Giri Babu in the assembly elections, most likely from Pithapuram assembly constituency,” a party leader familiar with the development said.
The senior leader is likely to come to Tadepalli next week to meet Jagan. “In all probability, he might join the party on March 12,” the party leader quoted above said.
A prominent face of Kapus, a predominant community in East Godavari district, Padmanabham has been spearheading a campaign for the last three decades seeking inclusion of Kapus and their sub-castes into the list of Other Backward Classes and extension of reservations in education and employment.
On January 31, 2016, Padmanabham had organised a ‘Kapu Garjana’ (Roar of Kapus) rally at Tuni in East Godavari district to raise the demand for inclusion of Kapus in the OBC list. The rally turned violent with the protesters going berserk, attacking public properties and setting fire to Ratnachal Express travelling between Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada. Though there were no casualties in the arson, a few railway employees were injured in the incident.
Hundreds of Kapu agitators, including Padmanabham, were arrested by the police then and several cases were lodged against them. The Kapu agitation continued for the next three years and more cases were lodged against the protesters in the process.
In February 2021, the Jagan government dropped all the pending cases against the Kapu activists including Padmanabham.
Recently, Padmanabham had extended support to Jana Sena Party led by popular actor Pawan Kalyan who also hails from the Kapu community. But with the actor joining hands with the Telugu Desam Party and accepting only 24 assembly seats, Padmanabham dropped his plan. On February 29, the Kapu leader wrote a letter to Pawan Kalyan saying that he has decided not to associate himself with Jana Sena Party, as there was no proper response from the party leadership.
