KAKINADA: In what could be a shot in the arm for the YSRC before the elections, Kapu patriarch and former minister Mudragada Padmanabham has reportedly agreed to join the ruling party.
YSRC’s PV Midhun Reddy and a host of leaders from Kakinada district called on the senior leader at his residence and invited him to join the party. It has been learnt that Mudragada’s son Giri Babu was offered a nominated post, following which the leader agreed to join the YSRC. He is likely to join the ruling party on March 12.
Amid reports that the Kapu leader was unhappy with Jana Sena Party chief Pawan Kalyan for not calling him personally and inviting him to join the party, the YSRC leadership swung into action and made efforts to induct Mudragada into the party-fold.
A battery of YSRC leaders, including regional coordinator for Godavari districts PV Midhun Reddy, Kakinada city MLA Dwarampudi Chandrasekhar Reddy, Kakinada rural MLA Kurasala Kannababu, former MLA Thota Narasimham, and others met the former minister at his residence in Kirlampudi of Kakinada district and invited him to join the party.
Emerging out of the one-hour-long meeting, Midhun Reddy said, “Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy respects Mudragada Padmanabham, considering his stint in politics. He wants to give a prominent post to the Kapu leader.” However, Midhun Reddy did not provide any clarity on the nominated post that Mudragada or his son would be given.
It may be recalled that Mudragada had extended support to the YSRC after the Tuni train incident and the subsequent booking of cases against Kapus by the then Chandrababu Naidu government. Later, he distanced himself from the YSRC after YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, as Opposition leader, had said that reservation for Kapus was not possible.
After the 2019 elections, Mudragada remained inactive and did not take up any agitations for Kapu reservation.
With elections nearing, Mudragada initially planned to contest from Prathipadu or Pithapuram segments. However, the YSRC has appointed other leaders as coordinators for these constituencies. Later, he tried to get a ticket from the JSP, but when that option, too, did not materialise, he reportedly decided to sail along with the YSRC, sources said.