Scramble for Kapu vote in Andhra Pradesh

Scramble for Kapu vote in Andhra Pradesh
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Highlights

The BJP, by appointing Kanna Lakshminarayana, a seasoned Kapu Congress leader-tuned-BJP activist, as president of its Andhra Pradesh unit, has let its strategy be known for the next elections in 2019. The party wants to have the support of Kapus for its foray into the hinterland of AP, the state where it has only a nominal presence.

The BJP, by appointing Kanna Lakshminarayana, a seasoned Kapu Congress leader-tuned-BJP activist, as president of its Andhra Pradesh unit, has let its strategy be known for the next elections in 2019. The party wants to have the support of Kapus for its foray into the hinterland of AP, the state where it has only a nominal presence.

The BJP seems determined to emerge as a force to reckon with in the AP state, with the immediate fuel that keeps its resolve burning being the unquenchable desire to avenge “betrayal" by Telugu Desam supremo N Chandrababu Naidu. It has not come to grips even now with the reality that Naidu had the temerity to step out of NDA government, the NDA and, on top of it, is launching a pincer attack on it, painting the party like the wolf which went after the people of the state who were like the proverbial Little Red Riding Hood.

Even as it was pushing up levers to roll the party machinery in AP by anointing Kanna Lakhsminarayana as it chieftain, the Karnataka debacle came as douche of cold water thrown at its leaders; but they have slowly started recovering from the after-effects of the fall from grace in the neighbouring state, in just a matter of three days.

Though Karnataka debacle would continue to rankle the party leaders for some time to come, the party wants to put everything behind its back and move on, in search of greener pastures in the state where it wants to improve its footprints significantly, hoping against hope of wresting power.

The party is well aware that in every election in Andhra Pradesh, Kapus play a major role, a la the JD(S) in Karnataka. They have the capability of making or marring the chances of one to ride to power. Strangely, the Kapus, an agrarian class, have no record of staying with the same party in the following election. Kapus who inhabit Krishna and Godavari river banks are estimated to constitute about 20 per cent of the population of the state.

In the last election, the Kapus sailed with with actor-politician Pawan Kalyan who was with TDP-BJP. Pawan believes that had he not lent his support to the TDP-BJP combine, YSRC would have come to power, and, therefore, he thinks he calls the shots and that he could play the role of JD (S) in the next election.

Be that as it may, courting Kapus is not easy, as they do not trust one easily. Though the conflagration that flared up after the assassination of fasting Congress legislator Vangaveeti Mohana Ranga Rao in 1988 in Vijayawada died long ago, the embers continue to smoulder. The Kapus continue to treat Kammas as the class enemy and vice versa, though both do not wear their hatred for each other on their sleeves as they used to in 1990s.

In 2009, Kapus were perceived to have supported Chiranjeevi, who set up his own party Praja Rajyam in the hope of making a political pole-vault into the chief minister's gaddi from the tinsel world. The Kapus, instead, gave a fractured verdict, with the result that PRP ended with just 18 seats and the Congress just enough majority to form the government.

After Chiranjeevi merged his PRP in the Congress in 2011, the Kapus who supported him felt betrayed and when the elections came again in 2014, they lent their support to the TDP-BJP combine.

As things stand today, it is believed that a major chunk of Kapus are with Pawan Kalyan, while YSRC has another chunk which is working in consort with Mudragada Padmanabham. Mudragada has been keeping the Kapu kettle boiling with his demand for reservations in employment and education by including them among the BCs, and is causing embarrassment to Chandrababu Naidu to no end.

Since losing power to the Congress in 2004, Telugu Desam chief Chandrababu Naidu had done his best to woo the Kapus but he could not succeed in his endeavour fully, since conceding their demand would mean incurring the wrath of the BCs, who are the backbone of the TDP, as Kapus inclusion would eat into the share of other categories among the Backward Classes.

Mudragada and other Chandrababu Naidu baiters describe his attempt to get Kapus listed among BCS as a publicity stunt, and his promise of providing 5 per cent reservation to them as only a plot to hoodwink them. They contend that Naidu had sent the 5 per cent quota bill to Delhi with a request for its inclusion in Schedule IX, knowing fully well that it would lie in the Delhi’s black-hole forever as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is against reservations going beyond 50 per cent for all castes put together, as ordained by the Supreme Court.

Given these circumstances, the BJP wants to win the hearts of the Kapus. If it can convince the Kapus that it could get them BC tag and reservations, then it could reckon itself being on the gravy train.

By R Prithvi Raj

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