Amidst heavy police deployment, the fast-unto-death launched by former Minister and Kapu leader Mudragada Padmanabham and his family members continued for the third day on Sunday.
Tension prevailed when the police stopped the supporters from visiting the Kapu leader. At one point, Mr. Padmanabham perceived the heavy police deployment as an attempt to foil his fast. He locked himself up in his room and denied entry to the police and revenue officials in the morning. Superintendent of Police M. Ravi Prakash and Joint Collector S. Satyanarayana, who visited the leader along with a team of doctors, were not allowed inside the house.
Repeated appeals
The officials made repeated appeals to him to undergo medical check-up for which Mr. Padmanabham made it clear that he was healthy and there was no need of conducting any check-up at the moment. He wondered why the police protection was manifold in the village overnight and the officials were insisting on medical tests on the very third day of the fast.
“There were instances people living for 66 days while sitting on indefinite fast. This is just the third day of my fast and I am fit,” he said while coming out of his house as the police stopped their attempts to enter the house forcibly.
Making it clear to the officials that his fast would continue till the government agreed to fulfil his demands, Mr. Padmanabham said that there was no compromise with regard to strengthening the Kapu movement in the event of the government failed to come out with an assurance. Demanding the inclusion of Kapus into the list of BCs and immediate sanction of Rs. 1,900 crore to the Kapu Corporation, Mr. Padmanabham, along with his wife Padmavathi, sat on indefinite fast at his house here on Friday.
The police allowed visitors on a one-on-one basis into the house, that too after a thorough frisking. People from different parts of the district thronged Kirlapmudi to express solidarity with Mr. Padmanabham. In all mandal headquarters, the Kapu youth sat on relay fast in support of the movement launched by Mr. Padmanabham. At Rajahmundry, the police foiled the fast launched by YSR Congress leader Jakkampudi Vijayalakshmi by taking her into custody in the morning. Leaders coming
Meanwhile, a battery of leaders, including former Union Ministers K. Chiranjeevi, Dasari Narayana Rao, and senior leaders of the YSR Congress Botcha Satyanarayana, Ummareddi Venkateswarlu and Ambati Rambabu will be calling on Mr. Padmanabham at his residence on Monday. Even as the police continued to impose restrictions on the visitor movement, the senior leaders decided to express their solidarity with Mr. Padmanabham by visiting him in person.
