Top Kapu leader Padmanabham joins YSRC

VIJAYAWADA: In a “huge boost” to the YSRC just ahead of the elections, senior Kapu leader and former minister Mudragada Padmanabham along with his son Mudragada Giri joined the YSRC in the presence of Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Friday.

The Chief Minister, in his capacity as YSRC president, welcomed the two at the CM’s Camp Office in Tadepalli, in the presence of several senior YSRC leaders.

Mudragada Padmanabham urged the entire Kapu community to unitedly support YSRC in the Assembly and Parliament elections “to ensure that their aspirations and dreams are fulfilled.”

Speculations about Padmnabham joining the YSRC were rife in recent days. The Opposition parties, mainly the Jana Sena leaders, egged him on to support the JS while the BJP also tried to get him into the saffron fold.

In a strategic move, YSRC regional coordinator and MP, P.V. Midhun Reddy, recently met the senior-most Kapu leader at the latter's house and invited him into the YSRC. Padmanabham has been promised a prominent position and good recognition to Kapus in the party and future government.

Padmanabham was planning to come to Tadepalli on March 14 at the head of a rally of his supporters and Kapus leaders. He changed the decision citing security problems. The veteran Kapu leader and his son met the CM and the two joined the YSRC on Friday.

Jagan Mohan Reddy felicitated Padmanabham with a shawl and bouquet and warmly welcomed him and his son into the party. It was a simple event.

The YSRC claimed that Padmanabham’s entry into the party came as a huge boost to it ahead of the elections, as it would endorse Jagan Mohan Reddy’s “commitment” for the uplift of the Kapu community.

Padmanabham urged the entire Kapu community to unitedly support the YSRC in the Assembly and LS polls to ensure that their “aspirations and dreams are fulfilled.”

Describing Jagan Mohan Reddy as the saviour of Kapus, the former minister said he strongly believed Kapus would get justice under the leadership of the Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy.

YSRC regional coordinator P.V. Midhun Reddy, MLAs Kurasala Kanna Babu, YSRC East Godavari president Dwarampudi Chandrasekhar Reddy and other senior leaders were present.