ANALYSIS. Kapu stir: TDP walking a tightrope in AP

The ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) finds itself in an unenviable position in Andhra Pradesh in the aftermath of the violent incidents at Tuni in East Godavari district on Sunday. The Kapu garjana – a convention of the Kapu caste for inclusion in the BC list – turned violent, and a train was burnt.

The tragic case of Venkata Ramana Murthy – a diesel mechanic belonging to the community – who hanged himself to death on Monday night at Kakinada, jolted people.

The suicide note expressed his anguish at the treatment meted out by political parties and the plight of the community, according to the police.

The TDP had made the promise before the 2014 Assembly elections that it would include the Kapus – mainly Kapus, Balijas, Telagas and Ontaris – in the BC list and won the elections comfortably, as Kapus voted for it in the two Godavari districts in which they are the dominant community, along with other coastal districts.

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu acknowledged it openly and made a Kapu leader from East Godavari, N China Rajappa, the Deputy CM and Home Minister.

But the crux of the matter is that the TDP, in its bid to woo the Kapus, cannot afford to alienate the BCs that are its traditional vote bank. Therefore, it has to include Kapus in the BC list without disturbing the quota for other castes, following which reservations in the State will exceed 50 per cent, the ceiling set by the Supreme Court, in which case the government order (GO) may be challenged and struck down.

Explaining the difficulty, Naidu says that it had happened in the case of Jats in the north when some States had included them in the BC list without doing their home work.

The GOs were struck down by the SC. Assuring the BCs that their quota will not be disturbed, he urged the Kapus to be patient for another 8-9 months for the Commission report, which is looking into the issue, and make recommendations so that a GO could be issued in a foolproof manner. Dismissing the explanations as mere dilatory tactics, Mudragada Padmanabham, the senior Kapu leader who convened the meet at Tuni, said Naidu was only trying to drive a wedge between the Kapus and the BCs.

“It can be done by the government by simply issuing a GO. In fact, when the late Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy was CM, a GO was issued to include Kapus in the BC list, but it was not implemented," he said.

Padmanabham has threatened to go on an indefinite fast again from February 5 if the State government does not issue the GO on time.

The TDP and Chief Minister are thus engaged in a frantic damage control exercise. The BJP, the alliance partner of the TDP, has remained a mute spectator to the whole drama.

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