Protesters set fire to the Ratnachal Express at Tuni in East Godavari district, Sunday. (PTI Photo) Protesters set fire to the Ratnachal Express at Tuni in East Godavari district, Sunday. (PTI Photo)

Who are the Kapus?

The Kapus are usually defined as an agrarian caste, spread mostly across coastal Andhra Pradesh. They are now considered the workforce of the state, working in rice mills and farms owned by the upper-caste Reddy and Kamma communities. According to the 1921 census, which counted castes, the Kapus form 15.2% of the combined Andhra and Telangana populations – that’s the only official count of the community. According to the AP State Kapunadu, an organisation that represents Kapus, their existing population is 23.4 per cent of the combined population of AP and Telangana. Although they are considered numerically strong, the community wasn’t seen as a political bloc. Filmstar-turned-politician K Chiranjeevi, who launched the Praja Rajyam Party (now defunct) ahead of the 2009 elections, and AP Deputy CM Nimmakayala Chinarajappa are prominent Kapu leaders.

Andhra politics was traditionally dominated by Brahmins. More recently, it has been a play between the Reddys (6.5% of the Andhra-Telangana population) and Kammas (4.8%), with the Congress and the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) being seen as ‘Reddy and Kamma parties’ respectively.

What were the Kapus demanding?

During their protest on Sunday at Tuni in East Godavari, Kapu leader Mudragadda Padmanabhan, a minister in the NT Rama Rao Cabinet of 1983, demanded an “immediate government order”, classifying the community as a Backward Class.

The Kapus were classified as a BC until 1960, when their status was changed and quota benefits revoked because they were considered upper castes. Community leaders say that since 1960, governments have always sought their votes promising to restore reservation, but that was never done. All Congress governments and the TDP, since its formation in 1982, have promised to consider reservation for Kapus.

The demand for inclusion in the BC category is a long-standing one, articulated mostly through caste associations. Kapus say that over the decades, the community has been neglected with the rise of the Kammas and Reddys, as a result of which the community slipped both economically and socially. This ‘imbalance’, they say, can be set right only if they are given reservation.

Why has this demand come up now?

In the 2014 general elections, the first after the state’s bifurcation, Kapus went with the TDP after Chandrababu Naidu promised to include the community in the BC category. Naidu had sought the help of Pawan Kalyan, actor and younger brother of Chiranjeevi, to woo Kapu votes away from the YSR Congress’s Jagan Mohan Reddy. Kalyan’s Jana Sena is an alliance partner of the NDA, of which the TDP too is a part. Kapus are said to have voted overwhelmingly with the BJP-TDP, only the second known instance of the community voting as a group. The first time was in 1983, when they voted for NT Rama Rao, but the issues were different then — it was mostly a vote for Telugu pride and for NTR’s charisma. Last month, the Naidu-led TDP government in the state appointed a judicial commission headed by Justice (retired) K L Manjunatha to look into matter of quota for Kapus. But as reports of divisions in that commission came out, sections of the Kapu leadership may have decided that this was the right time to step up their demands.

So why have they called off their stir so abruptly?

Mudragadda Padmanabham, the TDP politician who led the agitation, hadn’t expected things to turn out the way they did. As a disgruntled Kapu leader who had been sidelined in the TDP earlier, Padmanabham had decided to launch the stir to force the hand of the government and probably get some attention in the bargain. But with the YSR Congress throwing its weight behind the demand, the agitation grew much beyond what Padmanabham had bargained for. With the TDP coming down heavily on him, a rattled Padmanabham appealed to all Kapus not to protest anymore. “If necessary, I will alone launch a protest at a later stage…,” he said while blaming “bad elements” for “infiltrating” the peaceful meeting.

After this show of strength, will the CM give in to the Kapus’ demand?

The election promise would have always been tough to keep. CM Naidu will have to do some deft political manoeuvring and prepare for legal battles and similar demands from other communities. The show of strength and violence only make it a tad tougher for Naidu to keep his promise. The CM can’t be seen buckling when faced with arson. Moreover, reports are coming in of other BCs holding meetings in districts, lobbying for Kapus not to be included in the BC list.

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