Even as the district police say the proposed ‘Chalo Kathipudi’ public meeting scheduled for January 31 does not have permission, Kapu leaders are making arrangements to make the programme grand success by involving representatives of the caste from all over the State in it. Special armed forces are being deployed to the tiny village in Sankhavaram mandal and a special police camp has been opened in a village community hall on Monday.
Former Minister Mudragada Padmanabham under the aegis of the Kapu Joint Action Committee proposed the programme to highlight the demand of reservations. He chose January 31 to mark the anniversary of the Kapu Aikya Garjana public meeting at Tuni that turned violent with the torching of the Ratnachala Express three years ago. Leaders of the KJAC had already convened a series of meetings and sent invitations to the representatives of the caste from all over the State. The idea was to get the reservation demand realised before the election notification and the Kapu leaders said their show of strength must make the government rethink over the reservations issue and categorise the Kapus under the BC ‘F.’
“We have given enough time to the government to fulfil the promises made to the Kapus. The Chief Minister is proffering lame excuses but we are not ready to listen to them,” Mr. Padmanabham said, adding that there was nothing wrong in conducting a meeting and fighting for the genuine cause. “After all, it is the Chief Minister who promised reservations.”
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‘No application received’
Vishal Gunni, SP, said the police had not received any application seeking permission for the programme. He advised people not to get into trouble by attending it. “If we receive any application seeking permission, we will look into it,” he said after addressing a review meeting with police officials of Peddapuram sub-division. Steps would be taken to ensure law and order, he said.