Kapu leader Mudragada Padmanabham, son to join YSRCP on March 14

Amaravati: Senior Kapu leader Mudragada Padmanabham announced that he, along with his son Giri Babu, will join the YSRCP in the presence of chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on March 14. The entry of a senior leader, who has led the movement for Kapu reservation, is likely to be a boost for the party ahead of the Andhra Pradesh elections.

On Sunday, he addressed the media at his residence. “I would like to inform my well-wishers that I will join the YSRCP on March 14 at Tadepalli. I am not expecting any posts and will campaign for Jagan,” he said.

Mudragada is a prominent face of the Kapu community, which is a predominant community in the East Godavari district. The senior leader has been spearheading a campaign for the last three decades seeking the inclusion of Kapus and their sub-castes into the list of Other Backward Classes.

Sources said that Jana Sena Party chief Pawan Kalyan is likely to contest from the Pithapuram Assembly constituency. If so, there are speculations that Padmanabham will be given Pithapuram Assembly constituency to fight against Pawan Kalyan.

It is pertinent to note that in the last few weeks, there have been speculations of the leader joining JSP. He had extended support to Pawan Kalyan who also hails from the Kapu community. However, he wrote a letter to Pawan Kalyan after announcing their first list of TDP and Jana Sena candidates, saying that Jana Sena taking 24 Assembly and three Parliamentary seats is not appropriate. He said that it would be better to take some more seats and has expressed his displeasure.

Illustrious career

Mudragada Padmanabham had a very significant political career, winning elections five times as a public representative. He secured victories four times as an MLA (twice from TDP in 1983 and 1985, once from Congress in 1989, and once from the Janata Party in 1978) and once as a Kakinada MP in 1999 (TDP).

During his political career, He lost for the first time as an MLA in 1994 and did not contest again from the Prattipadu constituency. He later associated himself with Kapunadu and later with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). While working with BJP, he played a key role in the election of Krishnam Raju from Kakinada.

He was with the BJP for four years and attended Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Sakhas during this period. Later in 1999, he represented the Telugu Desam Party in the Lok Sabha from Kakinada and then lost in 2004 elections from the same constituency.