Furious with YSRCP chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy for saying that he can’t assure the Kapu community reservations if he came to power, Kapu leader Mudragada Padmanabham said that his statement insulted the community.
Addressing the media on Sunday, Padmanabham said, “His (Jagan) statement has insulted my entire community. What sin did this community commit? Aren’t this community’s members Indian citizens? Doesn’t this community belong to Andhra Pradesh? We didn’t migrate from other countries. Why this discrimination against our community?”
He added that Jagan making such a statement at the place where the agitation began was hurtful. “Please don’t hurt community emotions and sentiments,” Padmanabham said, addressing Jagan.
Jagan addressed a gathering at Jaggampeta in East Godavari district on Saturday as part of Praja Sankalpa Yatra. Then, he had said that he will not make promises which he cannot fulfil and announced that he cannot assure reservations for the Kapu community if voted to power. He said that instead of reservation, he would double the funds for the Kapu Corporation from the existing Rs 5,000 crore.
Explaining his rationale on why he can’t assure reservations, Jagan said that as reservations fall under the ambit of the Centre and claimed that he would not make promises he cannot keep.
“The issue is in the hands of the Centre. There have been instances in which reservation given by states was struck down,’’ Jagan had said.
However, Mudragada was not convinced with his argument and demanded to know why he was fighting for issues like such as the steel plant, which is under the Centre’s purview.
Taking a dig at Jagan’s poll promises, he said, “You have been making announcements everywhere. Will the state budget be enough for it? I don’t think the even the country’s budget be enough for it. I doubt that even America’s budget won’t be enough.”
Reservations for Kapus is one of the major, long-standing demands of the Kapu community in Andhra Pradesh. The demand had intensified under Kapu leader Padmanabham. Last December, after several violent protests, the government gave 5% reservations to the Kapus by creating a separate ‘F’ category in the list of Backward Classes. This ensured reservation in education for the Kapu communities of Telaga, Balija and Ontari.
Though the government had given 5% reservation, Padmanabham, who has been spearheading the Kapu agitation has been demanding 10% reservation.