The government seems to be getting ready for another show off with Kapus patriarch Mudragada Padmanabham by refusing permission for his proposed `Kapu Satyagraha Yatra’ scheduled to be started on January 25 from Ravulapalem of East Godavari district.
After five days, daily covering a distance of 20 kms, it was expected to be concluded at prominent pilgrimage centre Antarvedi, through Ainavilli and Amalapuram.
District Police Superintendent Ravi Prakash said that in view of previous experiences suspecting it would create law and problem they have decided not to allow the same. Few months ago, the former minister had differed his `satyagraha’ following house arrest by the police.
It may be recalled that since more than a year, he has been agitating seeking BC status for Kapus so that to get reservation benefits in education and employment. The Kapu leader has been stating repeatedly that they have been making this demand as it was promised by the Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu in his 2014 election manifesto.
Mudragada deplored that the government is preventing them from making their demands in a peaceful and Gandhian way. “We are not demanding anything other than what the TDP government and Chief Minister Chandrababu had promised in the run up to elections in 2014,” he added. He also makes it clear that he is not in the habit of seeking permissions for his protests.
After his futile attempt in November, 2016, he had resorted to phased agitations, starting with community activities sporting black ribbons and hitting steel plates with large spoons on December 18. Again on January 9, across the State, Kapu reservation movement cadres and leaders held candle light vigils. The Padayatra was proposed as a last phase of his agitation.
