Vijayawada: Both Kapus and Backward Classes hold the key on who will form the next government in the state.
Both Kapus and BCs put together form around 52 per cent of the total electorate and the last time, these two groups stood solidly behind the TD which helped the party supremo N. Chandrababu Naidu become Chief Minister.
While BCs have always patronised the TD since the party’s inception, the Kapus’s inclination had changed the tide in favour of the TD last time.
While Kapus are 15.2 per cent, BCs that include 143 various groups are 37 per cent of the total population in Andhra Pradesh.
This time there are chances that Kapus may sail with the Jana Sena due to the caste credentials of its chief Pawan Kalyan.
Interestingly, both Kapus and BCs are more in number in the twin Godavari districts and Pawan Kalyan has been focusing more on these two districts. Incidentally, the two parliament candidates, he announced in the first list, are from East Godavari district.
With a view to having the support of Kapus intact, Mr Naidu had initially moved a resolution in favour of reservation to Kapus in the state Assembly and forwarded it to the Centre.
Later, finding an opportunity in the 10 pc quota announced by the Centre to economically-weaker among open category groups, the Chief Minister had brought in five per cent sub-quota to Kapus.
However, Mr Jagan countered it saying it was only to hoodwink Kapus that the Naidu government brought in the five per cent sub-quota.
Both YSRC and TD have been trying their best to woo BCs who are numerically high in the state especially in the twin Godavari districts.
It is open knowledge that YSRC chief Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has begun efforts to consolidate the BCs vote bank in his favour as he thinks another numerically strong community Kapus will sail this time with Jana Sena in the twin Godavari districts. Both Mr Jagan and Mr Naidu had held massive meetings of BCs in the last one month and showered sops on them. Mr Jagan had announced a BC declaration.
Mr Jagan had already announced that Rajahmundry Lok Sabha YSRC ticket this time would be given to a BC candidate. Accordingly, noted industrialist from BCs, Margani Nageswar Rao and his son Bharath Kumar had joined YSRC.
Mr Jagan is contemplating giving the Rajahmundry Lok Sabha ticket to Margani Nageswar Rao’s son. It is learnt that though there are more BCs that come under the Rajahmundry LS segment, not even a single political party had given a ticket, until now since many decades.
YSRC’s calculation is that if a BC candidate is given a Lok Sabha ticket, it will have an impact across the district in almost all the constituencies where BCs are in good number equivalent to the Kapus.
