Former Minister and Kapu leader Mudragada Padmanabham on Thursday alleged that Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu’s inaction had aggravated the Garagaparru Dalit’s social boycott issue in West Godavari. He said the CM, who flew often in hired choppers, had failed to rush to the village where the Dalits had been boycotted en masse by the upper castes for the last two months. “Neither had the CM directed the Collector or SP to go to the village nor had any official gone there to assess the plight of the Dalits,” he said.
Mr. Padmanabham on his return from the village met former MP of Amalapuram G.V. Harsha Kumar who was on an indefinite hunger strike here. By the time he reached the venue, the former MP had withdrawn the fast as the police had arrested three accused in the Garagaparru incident.
Speaking to reporters at Mr. Harsha Kumar’s residence, Mr. Padmanabham said the issue had started two months back and the Chief Minister had failed to get information about it. He said though there were a number of well-settled families, the Dalit colonies were still backward. He pointed out that the Dalit youth wanted to install Dr. Ambedkar’s statue on the tank bund which was not allowed by the upper caste people. “Dr. Ambedkar does not belong to one caste. I erected his statue in my house and gave order for making Damodaram Sanjeevaiah’s statue to be installed next to it. What is wrong in installing [it] in the middle of the village?” he asked. Commenting on the house arrest of Mr. Harsha Kumar, he said the Chandrababu regime had responded to every agitation with house arrest. A panic situation would be created with the deployment of a large contingent of police, barricading and other activities.
Mr. Kumar, who participated in this press conference, thanked Mr. Padmanabham for extending his support to the Dalit’s cause.
