The Kapu agitation for reservation in Andhra Pradesh is likely to restart again as the community's leader Mudragada Padmanabham announced a five-day Padayatra in East Godavari district, starting from November 16.
The New Indian Express reported:
Mudragada, who had been lying low for about a month, went into a huddle with members of the Kapu Reservation Movement Joint Action Committee at his residence in Kirlampudi in East Godavari district today...Kapu community members have been invited to participate in the rally, wearing black bands to register their protest against the delay in according BC status to the community.
"The government is deceiving the Kapus over the reservation issue and my yatra is to highlight the raw deal being meted out to the community," The Hindu quoted him as saying, while adding that the yatra would begin at Ravulapalem and conclude at Antarvedi.
Padmanabham also criticized the BC commission constituted by the government to study the issue and said that it was delaying the submission of its report on one pretext or the other.
The agitation by Kapus, seeking inclusion in the Backward Classes category, had turned violent at Tuni on January 31 when the protesters went on a rampage setting on fire a passenger train, and a police station, besides police and private vehicles.
Wary about violence that could break out, Padmanabham reportedly told his followers to abstain from alcohol during the five days of the protest.