The police foiled yet another attempt of Kapu leader Mudragada Padmanabham to take out a padayatra on Sunday.
Mr. Padmanabham had been confined to his residence here by the police since he proposed to launch the ‘chalo Amaravati’ padayatra on July 26 to bring pressure on the government to include the community in the list of BCs.
Since day one, the Kapu leader, along with his followers, had been protesting in some form or the other, denouncing the police action.
Beating of plates
Beating the plates with spoons was one form of protest the members of the community had been staging at noon every day.
On Sunday too, Mr. Padmanabham, along with his supporters, came out of his residence and the police stopped them at the entrance of the residence.
They then tied a black ribbon to their mouths in a symbolic protest against the government’s alleged attempt to suppress their freedom of expression and for imposing curbs on their movements.
Dig at Chinarajappa
Speaking on the occasion, Kapu JAC leaders Vasireddy Yesudas, Akula Satyanarayana, Areti Prakash and G. Swami lashed out at Home Minister N. Chinarajappa for his alleged remarks against Mr. Padmanabham, forgetting the fact that he too hailed from the community. They said a day would come when the Kapus would teach Mr. Chinarajappa a fitting lesson at Peddapuram, his home constituency.
At Bodapativaripalem, children from the community participated in relay hunger strike. They too resorted to beating the plates with spoons at noon.
There was a tussle between the Kapu youth and the police at Yeleswaram when they tried to take out a motorcycle rally. JAC leader Gollapalli Kasiviswanth was detained for a couple of hours.
‘Vanta-varpu’
Former Minister K. Mohana Rao, Mallam sarpanch K. Sivanath, Pithapuram municipal Floor leader G. Rama Rao organised ‘vanta-varpu’ programme.
Dalita, Kapu, Bahujana Ikya Vedika members from all the 13 districts visited Kirlampudi and expressed their solidarity with Mr. Padmanabham.
