Amid tight security and a tension-filled atmosphere in this village in East Godvari district, Kapu leader Mudragada Padmanabham began his indefinite hunger strike along with his wife Padmavathi seeking the inclusion of Kapus in the BC list in Andhra Pradesh.
Minutes after the couple started the hunger strike at 9 am, tension gripped the area after a 36-year-old autorickshaw driver Adabala Durga Prasad of Someswaram village in Rayavaram mandal consumed pesticides one and half kilometre away from where Padmanabham launched his agitation.The auto driver was immediately rushed to the hospital and declared out of danger. Three suicide notes kept in three envelopes were seized from him. In the suicide notes, Durga Prasad charged the TDP regime with using the Kapus as vote bank and not doing them justice.
Whin hours after the couple began their indefinite hunger strike, Padmavathi’s sugar levels dropped and led to unrest among their supporters. According to sources, the authorities are likely to shift her to a hospital either late on Friday night or early Saturday . By the afternoon, a team of doctors team examined the couple and declared their condition to be normal.Despite a request from the cops to Kapu leaders not to call on the fasting Padmanabham, Vatti Vasanta Kumar, K Mohana Rao and former MLA Pantam Padmanabham and many others met him on Friday . On his part, Padmanabham urged his community members not to visit his protest camp. He further requested them to stay in their villages and register their protest in a peaceful manner.
Meanwhile, Congress Ra ya Sabha member from Hyderabad V Hanumantha Rao staged a dharna after cops prevented him from entering Kirlampudi to meet Padmanabham.Later, he was allowed to visit the Kapu leader’s residence where the hunger strike was aunched. VHR later told the media that the state government should provide reservations to Kapus without disturbing reservations to the other BC communities. Padmanabham’s call to his community members to stage protests saw some women observing a token hunger strike at places like Gannavaram, Bodaptivaripa em and Medapadu. In Rajahmundry , the local Kapu Sangam staged a dharna at the Kotagummam centre. Others who extended solidarity included cine director Dasari Narayana Rao and former Amalapuram MP Harsha Kumar.