Jagan stuck in Kapu quagmire

Hyderabad: YSRC chief YS Jaganmohan Reddy’s gambit to woo the BC voters with his declaration that he would not be able to get BC status for Kapus seems to be falling apart.

Instead of the BCs rallying behind him, Kapus who are now perceived to be with him till now, are seething with rage at his assertion that he was helpless since the Kapu reservation issue is under the purview of the Centre.

An angry Kapu leader in Rajahmundry said Jaganmohan Reddy had hurt Kapus’ feelings. “He has lost our trust. No matter what you do, shards cannot be rejoined after a mirror is broken,” he said, adding: “Entire Kapu lot is very much upset.

We are about one-fourths of the population of the state. Why is he digging his own grave?” he asked. On the other hand, BCs seem to be not bothered about Jaganmohan Reddy’s statement.

“In the past, it was Jaganmohan Reddy who had said the movement for BC status for Kapus is justified. Now he says he cannot get the BC status for them. There is no doubt that he is eyeing our votes.

But no BC would ever support him because of his about-face on Kapu reservation issue. Where is the guarantee that he would not take pro-Kapu reservation stand tomorrow?” a BC leader from the same town asked.

Though Kapus are insisting that Jaganmohan Reddy should withdraw his statement if he wants their support in the next election, the YSRC chief is sticking to his guns that he is not a leader who makes promises that cannot be kept.

Though the Kapu leaders are taking exception to his assertion that he cannot fight for BC status as it is under the purview of the Centre, he continues to repeat it at all his public meetings on Tuesday also without any remorse or with an air of apology about him.

The Kapu leaders’ argument is that Jaganmohan Reddy is fighting on several issues, including Special Category Status all of which are under the purview of the Centre.

But when the Kapu issue comes up, he drops it like a hot potato. He made his anti-Kapu stand clear in the Kapu heartland only to hurt our sentiments,” another Kapu leader said.

They point out that Jaganmohan Reddy would have surely won the 2014 elections had he not said he cannot promise waiver of farm loans which Chandrababu Naidu did and reaped the whirlwind.

“His lack of political sagacity had cost him the office of the Chief Minister with just a difference of 2 per cent of votes.

Now with this statement on his inability in getting BC status for Kapus, he can kiss goodbye to Kapu votes. He can well be assured of a repeat of 2014 result,” the Kapu leader maintains.

When Jaganmohan Reddy, out of the blue, attacked Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan at a personal level questioning him as to whether it would not amount to polygamy for marrying four times, it came as a rude shock to the YSRC cadres since the statement had the potential of alienating the Kapu youths who have admiration for Pawan Kalyan.

The YSRC cadres felt that Jagan Mohan Reddy had attacked the film actor out of frustration that he was weaning away Kapus who are under his influence.

The situation, afterwards, has become much worse because what he had sensed would happen, has happened with his personal attack on Pawan Kalyan. Interestingly, Jaganmohan Reddy does not seem to have cut much ice with the BCs with his anti-Kapu reservation stand.

The BC leaders say they were never with Jaganmohan Reddy in the first place and just because he had said he was against BC status for Kapus does not make all BCs turn to him.

He has to first earn the confidence of the BCs which he could not do so far. Though it is true that some of BCs’ confidence in Chandrababu Naidu was shaken when he passed the bill according BC status to Kapus, we quickly reconciled to the fact that of the leaders available now, the one who cares for BCs is TDP only. We will continue to support Naidu,” he says.

In a significant statement, Kapu Patriarch Mudragada Padmanabham said if any leader could get BC status for them,

it was Chandrababu Naidu and no one else, indicating that they would not trust any one and trust Naidu only to some extent.

It remains to be seen if Jaganmohan Reddy’s efforts to project himself as an honest politician has any takers among the Kapus.