Kapu community leader Mudragada Padmanabham wrote a letter to the Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy on Tuesday appealing him to implement the pending reservation for the Kapu community.
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi has introduced and passed 10 per cent reservation for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS). The then AP CM N Chandrababu Naidu, who had assured the Kapu community of Backward Class (BC) reservation allocated 5 per cent of that reservation for our community. He introduced a bill in the assembly and made tall claims that he gave the reservation for Kapu community. But I came to know that Tehsildar offices did not receive any orders to implement that 5 per cent reservation. It is understood that the then Chief Minister had left the implementation of that reservation, and now the onus is on you," the letter read.
Slamming the previous Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, Padmanabham wrote, "Chandrababu Naidu had promised to give BC reservation for Kapu community (including Kapu, Balija, Telaga, Ontari castes) in many public meetings before 2014 elections. But after coming to power, his government did not work in that direction."
"Whenever our community tried to raise the issue, the then government insulted and held brutal attacks with the police force on us. Instead of voting for an existing Kapu political party, we stood by you and voted for YSRCP. If you believe that the Kapu community stood by you, then please fulfill the allocation of the reservation to our community, which was left midway. It will be highly useful for the students and youth awaiting jobs from our community," he further added.
Kapu community that comprises of four castes (Kapu, Balija, Telaga and Ontari) is a major chunk of population in Andhra Pradesh. They were listed BC category long back but were removed almost two decades ago.
At the time of 2014 elections, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) promised to get back the reservation for Kapu community. After coming to power in 2014, the TDP government had passed a resolution in Assembly which was sent to the centre for ratification.
When Narendra Modi announced 10 per cent reservation for EWS, the then AP Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu announced that he would provide 5 per cent of that reservation to Kapu community. However, it did not yet materialise.
( With inputs from ANI )