BCs on warpath for quota

Vijayawada: The state government heaved a sigh of relief as former minister Mudragada Padmanabham called of his hunger strike by assuring to include Kapus in the BC list, but several BC associations and their leaders warned the government by demanding withdrawal of its promise to include Kapus in the BC list immediately.

Moreover, the leaders of BCs threatened the government that they would get ready for militant agitation if the government continues the Kapu reservation plan. As part of it, a BC activist made a suicide attempt by setting himself on fire with petrol but his colleagues stopped his effort.

The leaders of BC Ikya Vedika led by R. Krishnaiah and BC Jana Sabha led by G. Gangadhar conducted meetings at separate venues in the city here on Tuesday against the government’s proposal in favour of Kapus.

On this occasion, Hema Murali Goud, who belongs to Gouda community and native of Nakerekallu in Guntur district made suicide attempt by using petrol in the meeting venue in the presence of Mr Krishnaiah. His colleagues and BC activists immediately foiled her effort.

The atmosphere at the meeting turned emotional at the time and BC activists raised slogans against Kapu-BC reservation proposal. They also demanded the BC leader and TD MLA Krishnaiah to resign immediately for agitating against the plans of the government. They also questioned the BC leader-turned-MLA why he was silent for all these days though the government appointed Kapu Commission some months ago. However, the other leaders cooled down the issue by convincing them.

On the other hand, Mr Krishnaiah warned the government that they would not allow the Kapus-BC reservation proposal. He said that if the government goes ahead to include the Kapus in the BCs for political interests, the BCs would see the state government’s downfall.

Participating in BC Ikya Vedika meeting, Mr Krishnaiah said that it is time to prove the strength of 138 BC castes, which are 58 per cent of the total population. He said that the recommendations of commissions and constitutional amendments are required for Kapus-BC reservations. If the government takes any steps against the guidelines, the BCs would teach a fitting lesson to the government.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu had promised to address the 17 issues raised by the BCs and already those were in TD manifesto, including reservation for BCs in legislative house. Mr Krishnaiah asked the CM why he did not take any action on the promises so far. He questioned the government why it had not allotted funds for BCs on par with Kapus.

BC Welfare Association president K. Shankar Rao, former minister P. Subhashchandra Bose, Telangana Association president Srinivas Goud and several other leaders were also present.