Former minister and Kapu leader Mudragada Padmanabham has urged Chief Minster Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy to write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi with regard to Kapu quota. “Use your good offices and see that the file relating to BC-F is cleared by the Centre,” he said.
In a letter to Mr. Jagan MOhan Reddy on Tuesday, the Kapu leader said the file was pending with the Home Ministry for some time now. “It may not be justified to seek your help as you have not promised a quota for Kapus. But keeping in view the despair prevailing among the Kapu youth, I request you to do the needful. The Kapu community didn’t forget the help of Ambedkar and Damodaram Sanjeevaiah. Likewise, the Kapus would not forget your services and help,” he said.
Took part in Odarpu Yatra
He also recalled how he took part in the Odarpu Yatra going against the Congress Party’s decision. He also reminded that he was suspended from the Congress Party. Mr. Padmanabham is known for campaigning for the inclusion of the Kapu (caste) in the Backward Class (BC) category.
It may be recalled that Mr. Padmanabham, in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in August 2019 requested reintroduction of five per cent reservation to Kapus under the EWS (Economically Weaker Sections) quota. On December 2, 2017, the Andhra Pradesh Assembly passed a Bill giving five per cent EWS quota to the Kapu community.
Requests PM too
Mr. Padmanabham reminded that the Bill is pending with the Home Ministry, and he requested the Prime Minister to consider the issue, and ratify the same so that the poor among the Kapu community can see the light of hope.
In an open letter to the Kapus in 2018, Mr. Padmanabham said he had come to know through the media that Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy touring the district was reluctant to give any concrete assurance on the Kapu reservation issue when the youth from the community tried to take up the cause with him. “Kapu reservation is not a charity,” he said, and added that former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Damodaram Sanjeevaiah had issued a G.O. providing reservation to the Kapus, which successive governments had ignored.