Former Andhra Minister and Kapu leader Mudragada Padmanabham on Tuesday wrote an open letter to Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan, and asked him not to 'buy into the lies' of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.
The Times of India reported that Mudragada was reacting to Pawan Kalyan's comments on reservation for Kapus in the state, and alleged that Naidu and the TDP were spreading lies about the movement.
“It has been a long wait and the government had started abusing, threatening and cheating the community. The TDP government is making efforts to malign the agitation through false propaganda that the agitation was backed by YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. We are feeling ashamed of the lies being spread by the government,” Mudragada was quoted as saying.
Demanding that the TDP government fulfil its election manifesto and extend BC status to Kapus, Mudragada and his supporters continued their protest of beating plates with a spoon every day between 10am and 11am, the TOI report adds.
The protest symbolises the 'starvation' of the community, as they were denied reservation under the BC category.
On the issue of reservation for Kapus, a caste he comes from, Pawan had earlier said this was a sensitive matter and need to be handled carefully.
Recalling that TDP had made the promise to provide quota, he said the issue should be resolved through talks to ensure that backward classes were compensated for any loss on account of providing reservation to Kapus.
Last week, Mudragada was placed under 'house arrest' along with other leaders at his residence, as he stepped out for his 'Chalo Amaravati' padayatra.
The police made it clear that while he was free to move around for his personal activities, he had no permission for the padayatra.
Mudragada stated that he would attempt to begin the Chalo Amaravati yatra again on August 3, as the restriction orders against him expire on August 2.
At the height of the Kapu agitation in January 2016, activists set fire to the Ratnachal Express at Tuni in East Godavari district.
Following this, the TDP government constituted the Manjunatha Commission to look into the issue.
Angered by the delay in the Commission's report, Kapu leaders planned the 400-km padayatra that would cover the districts of East Godavari, West Godavari, Krishna and Guntur, before ending at Amaravati.
IANS inputs