‘Kapus’ angry as Jagan says can’t vow quota

Tribune News Service

Hyderabad, July 30

The issue of reservation for ‘Kapu’ community, who constitute about 27 per cent of Andhra Pradesh’s population, has acquired political overtones with Assembly elections less than a year away.

The candid assertion of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, leader of the opposition YSR Congress, that he would not make a false quota promise has set off ripples in the political circles. M Padmanabham, a prominent Kapu leader and former Kakinada MP who spearheaded the quota stir in the past, said his community felt “cheated and insulted” by Jagan’s statement.

Addressing a public meeting at Jaggampeta in East Godavari district over the weekend, as part of his mass contact programme ‘Praja Sankalpa Yatra’, Jagan had said he would not make promises that he cannot fulfil and announced that he cannot assure reservation for the Kapu community if voted to power. Instead, he promised to double the funds for the Kapu Corporation from the existing Rs5,000 crore.

Padmanabham, who has been leading the agitation demanding 10 per cent quota, accused the opposition leader of hurting the sentiments of Kapu community.