Vijayawada: People of various categories belonging to the backward classes are uniting against the Kapu reservation demand. Their leaders are organising meetings region-wise, and across the political lines, and they would announce their stand at a state-level meet.

The BC communities are expressing dissent over the move for inclusion of Kapus in the BC list right from the time the proposal came up. The BC organisations, formed a JAC, and have been organising many protests and agitations. They are making it clear that they want the government to withdraw the proposal.

BC welfare association state general secretary Potina Mahesh said, “If all the BCs join their hands together, it is not going to be a tough task for us to be elected to power in the next elections. Now, this is time for us to launch a fight against inclusion of new castes into the BCs list, particularly the Kapus.”

He added that when the Kapu Corporation was allotted Rs 1,000 crore, they used Rs 940 crore for their well- being, while the BC corporation used only Rs 1,065crore when they were allotted Rs 8,835 crore in 2016-17. “This clearly shows how backward we are even in using the allotted budget money. “

Mr Mahesh alleged that BC welfare minister K. Ravindra is looking after his own welfare rather than that of the BCs. The BC movement intensified with the recent move of Mr Mudragada Padmanabham pressing for inclusion of Kapus in the BC list.

TD general secretary and MLC Reddy Subrahmanyam said though he was in the ruling party, there arose a situation for BCs to be united to protect their rights. “This has nothing to do with the political parties and we are trying to have a common leadership.” He said the BCs have recently organised a meeting on the issue in Rajahmundry and are planning meetings region-wise across the state.

“In the final stage, we shall conduct a state -level meeting and announce our stand.” He exuded confidence that Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu would protect the interests of the BCs and ensure that their present quota would not be affected.