VIJAYAWADA/KAKINADA : In a pre-emptive measure to rein in his political adversaries ahead of the Nanydal Assembly and Kakinada civic polls, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Monday conferred with Kapu leaders of the TDP and assured them that he would do everything in his power to see that the community is given backward class (BC) status.The move is timely since both in Nandyal and Kakinada, Kapus (they are known as Balijas in Nandyal) form a huge chunk of the population, therefore having the potential to influence the outcome of the elections.
With Kapu patriarch Mudragada Padmanabham still adamant about embarking on his Chalo Amaravati padayatra, Naidu, who is keen on preventing his agitation pitting Kapu voters against the TDP, hit upon the idea of calling the meeting to reiterate his commitment to the Kapu quota cause.Padmanabham has been making attempts to take out the padayatra since July 26, but has been sent back to his residence by the police every single time on the ground that he does not have the required permission. On Monday too, Mudrgada Padmanabham made yet another attempt to take out his rally and the police, as seems to have become customary, stopped him in his tracks.
At the meeting here, the TDP supremo bashed YSRC chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy for not raising the Kapu issue at his party’s recent plenary in Guntur district. Naidu claimed the opposition leader had “no concern for Kapus”. “But I am committed to the cause. I will request the Manjunath Commission to table its report early so that follow-up work can be initiated,” he said.
The CM said he understood the difficulties the community was facing as a result of its youth not being able to make much progress in life. Naidu recalled how successive governments had let down Kapus by promising them BC status and later conveniently forgetting about it. “I will not allow this to happen anymore. That is why I have included the issue of BC status to Kapus in the TDP poll manifesto. I have been requesting the Manjunath Commission to complete the study and submit the report early,” he said.