Don’t want reservations for rich Kapus: Mudragada

Kirlampudi: Mudragada Padmanabham, who has called off his fast for Kapu reservation on Monday after the talks with AP government ended successfully, has urged government not to include the creamy layer of Kapu community into the BC category.

Mudragada said that he had called off his fast just because the hunger strike has succeeded by gaining state wide response and the talks with the government representatives were also fruitful. He said he will further fight for the fulfillment of the promises made by the government and will never give up until the demands are met.

After he was offered the lemon juice by the government representatives in order to call off the fast on Monday afternoon, Mudragada addressed the media. He said, “The fast undertaken by myself along with my wife was not to humiliate the chief minister of the state. It was intended only to let the government about the problems and plight of our community. There are certainly very poor people in Kapus than in SC ST communities and of course there are riches and well-offs in the same caste. We are requesting the government to remove them from the reservation. We are fighting for poor people in Kapus.”

Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu promised at the time of elections to include the Kapu, Telaga, Balija and Ontari castes into BC category. But he failed to fulfill those promises even it has been over six months since the TDP came into the power. My motto is to fight and achieve the well-being of our community. Though there are some omissions in the proposals from the government, I accepted to cease my fast for the welfare of the community.

Padmanabham went on to detail the motto behind his fast the fast which had drawn attention across the state saying he never tried to reprimand the CM intentionally and had to call for a hunger strike in the inevitable situations after Kapus had lost their hope. He also sought government’s apology if he said any unruly words. Mudaragada briefed media that he will come to Chandrababu’s house and cleanse his feet if the latter sends Manjunatha Committee’s report to central and get it passed by the central cabinet. We have demanded some quota alongside the existing quotas for BCs and not demanded to reduce their quota from the existing reservation. We don’t have any intention to grab their benefit at all, he said.

Mudragada, the former minister, urged the people including his family members, who have been observing the fast along with him since four days in various places, to call off their fast. On behalf of him and the Kapu Community, Padmanabham thanked all the politicos, who supported him, including YSRCP head YS Jagan, PCC chief Raghuveera Reddy, Chiranjeevi, Dasari Narayana Rao, Vatti Vasantha Kumar, V.Hanumantha Rao, Harshakumar, BJP leaders Somu Veerraju, Kanna Laxminarayana and other MRPS leaders.