YSR Congress chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Tuesday met family members of a man, belonging to the Kapu community, who allegedly committed suicide in support of reservation demand for the community under OBC category.
Reddy arrived in Kakinada from Srikakulam and drove straight to the residence of C H V Murthy, who hanged himself from a dish antenna at Bennet Club in the Collectorate on Monday.
The Opposition leader consoled the family members and assured them of his party's full support.
Later, talking to reporters, he blamed Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu for the present plight of Kapus and also the suicide of Murthy, a TV mechanic by profession and a resident of Kakinada.
Reddy demanded an ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh to the next of kin of Murthy and a government job to one of his family members.
The Chief Minister should convince the Centre to amend the Constitution to raise the quota limit from present 50 per cent, he said.
Meanwhile, former Andhra Pradesh Minister Vatti Vasantha Kumar extended support to the agitation launched by Kapus for reservation in jobs and education.
Kumar met Mudragada Padmanabham, who is spearheading the agitation, at his residence in Kirlampudi, East Godavari district and extended his support to the quota stir.
He said Naidu should treat the quota demand as a social issue and not a political one. "The Chief Minister should take a proper decision on the issue," Kumar said.
"The Kapu community is facing severe problems. The Chief Minister should fulfil his promise made in 2014 election manifesto (to provide OBC status to Kapus)."
However, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said the opposition parties were creating hurdles as they were "jealous" of progress of the state under the TDP rule.
"Under the TDP rule, Andhra Pradesh is making progress more than other states. With the vision to move ahead with investor-friendly policies, the state is attracting huge investments for industrial advancement and to provide better employment opportunities," Naidu told TDP workers.
According to a release by the Information and Public Relations Department, Naidu told his party men that the state government successfully conducted CII summit, where MoUs for investment of about Rs 4.71 lakh crore.
The state government also convinced many multinational firms at the recently-held World Economic Forum at Davos to set up their units in the state, Naidu was quoted as telling the party men.
"But all such efforts by the state created jealousy in the minds of opposition leaders and hence they create disturbances to pose difficulties in the path of development," he said.
Naidu also asked his party men to explain to the people the facts on both the success of the government in many fields and the role of opposition in disrupting development initiatives.