Police placed Mudragada under house arrest in Kirlampudi on Wednesday The officer on Special duty served him notice and stopped him from undertaking the padayatra The officer clarified that there was no permission and he was arrested anticipating a law and order problem
Kapu leader Mudragada Padmanabham, who was about to start his ‘Chalo Amaravathi’ padayatra from his residence in Kirlampudi was placed under house arrest on Wednesday. The Kapu leader had announced the 126-km padayatra from Kirlampudi to Amaravathi covering several villages and towns in 25 days demanding Kapu Reservation but the police informed that Mudragada had not sought permission to conduct the Padayatra.
When questioned as to the reason for his house arrest, Officer on Special Duty (OSD) Ravisankar clarified that there was no permission for his padayatra and he was being confined to his house as they were anticipating law and order problem and untoward incidents.
Nearly 2,000 police personnel have been deployed in order to prevent the Padayatra. In East Godavari district alone, around 5,000 police personnel were on duty. Section 144 was in force in East Godavari District and police warned that stringent action would be taken against anyone who violated the prohibitory orders and took out rallies.
Apart from Padmanabham, other Kapu leaders were also kept under house arrest in East and West Godavari districts from Wednesday morning. In Rajamahendravaram, YSRCP leader and former MLC Kandula Durgesh and party leaders Jakkampudi Vijayalakshmi, Akula Veerraju and Girijala Babu were confined to their houses. Kapu leaders Kalvakolanu Tataji, Nalla Vishnu in Amalapuram and Gandepalli Babi in Pitapuram were also confined to their houses.
Many questions arise as to why so much of hype is given to Mudragada and Kapu Reservation issue. Why is the government of Andhra Pradesh bent on stopping Mudragada’s padayatra? Why did the issue of Kapu reservation escalate so much? What is the loss to the AP government?
The Kapu Reservation issue came to the forefront only after the election promise of the TDP Chief during the 2014 election campaign. In the four years of power Chandrababu failed to honour his promise and even when Mudragada reminded him of his promise the CM didn’t bother. Thus arose the Mudragada agitations which escalated day after day and his prominence kept growing.
The first agitation in Tuni resulted in arson when the Ratnachal Express was alighted. From then on, every agitation of Mudragada is under surveillance as it has become an issue of security.
Police pickets were setup in Krishna-West Godavari and Krishna-Guntur districts. Police are checking every private vehicle, buses and transport vehicles at toll gates and on district borders. The security around Amaravathi has beefed up reminding one of a fortress.
Mudragada confined to his house said he would not rest until his final showdown would happen to settle the issue forever. He called the Kapu community from nearby villages in East Godavari to come every day between 9 and 10 am by walk and express their solidarity.
Many prominent Kapu leaders reached Kirlampudi but the police are not giving permission to meet him. So many of them settled in nearby villages waiting for a change in circumstances.
