KAKINADA: Kapunadu leader Mr Mudragada Padmanabham launched an indefinite hunger strike along with his wife Padmavathi in his residence at Kirlampudi of East Godavari district at 8.30 am on Friday. He took up the agitation demanding that Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu should take steps for the inclusion of Kapus in the BC list within a time frame and allocate Rs 2,000 crore for the Kapu Welfare Corporation.
There was heavy police deployment at Kirlampudi, headed by additional superintendent of police Y. Shivashankara Reddy. Police officials barred the gates of Mr Padmanabham’s house in spite of his protest and no one was allowed in. They also checked all vehicles coming into Kirlampudi and everyone entering the village.
Mr Padmanabham appealed to his followers and supporters to carry on the struggle peacefully and asked them not to come to Kirlampudi. They should stay where they lived and register their protest peacefully. He also asked them to cooperate with the police. Mr Padmanabham also said that he had not received any specific message from the state government regarding its future course of action on the demand of Kapus. “I have read conflicting versions in newspapers. I can’t go by what is written in them,” he said.
