Kapu leader Mudragada Padmanabham has set December 6, the death anniversary of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, as the deadline for the State government to announce inclusion of Kapu caste in the list of Backward Classes.
After a meeting with JAC leaders from the 13 districts here on Wednesday, Mr. Padmanabham said: “We are fixing December 6 as the deadline for the government to meet our demand and postponing our agitation (padayatra) till that date. This does not mean we are succumbing to the pressure being exerted by the government.”
Stating that he was postponing the agitation on the advice of the JAC leaders, Mr. Padmanabham said the government should, by that date, also pass a resolution on the Kapu reservation issue in the Assembly and refer the same to the Central government.
“Now, I will be touring every district and meet members of the Kapu community,” he said.
In an indirect reference to the DGP, Mr. Padmanabham demanded that Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu take action against him for “targeting lower rank officials and harassing members of the community.”
Claiming that he was senior to Mr. Naidu in politics, the Kapu leader said he had every right to ask the Chief Minister to implement the promise he made to the community as he had voted for the TDP in the last elections.
Stating that no government survived by suppressing people’s agitations, he appealed to the Chief Minister to correct himself and take a decision on the issue at the earliest.
