Bharatiya Janata Party spokesman and Rajya Sabha member G V L Narasimha Rao, who has been pampering Kapus for the last few days in an apparent bid to alienate them from Jana Sena Party, has played yet card to attract the community.
GVL, who has been vociferously demanding that the Jagan government implement five percent reservations for Kapus under Economically Weaker Sections’ quota, came up with yet another demand in Rajya Sabha on Monday.
He demanded that the Centre should direct the Jagan Mohan Reddy government to rename one of the districts – either Krishna or Machilipatnam – after Kapu strongman late Vangaveeti Mohana Ranga, who was killed by the rival caste groups way back in 1988.
He said Ranga was revered as a great leader by a section of people in these districts, even 36 years after his death.
“He was a symbol of the poor, oppressed and weaker sections. There is not a single Telugu person who is not aware of Ranga,” he said.
Stating that he had been killed by some rival forces in December 1988 at a time when he was growing as a powerful political force in Andhra Pradesh, the BJP MP said he had been acknowledged as the great people’s leader though he was only a one-time MLA.
GVL said though the state government had received several proposals to name one of the districts after Ranga during the delimitation of the districts, it had ignored the same despite the fact that some of the districts were named after other prominent leaders.
He demanded that either Krishna or Machilipatnam be named after Ranga. Besides, Vijajaywada international airport, too, should be named after the Kapu leader, he said.
Apparently, GVL wants to appease the Kapu community in the wake of reports that Jana Sena Party led by actor Pawan Kalyan is inclining towards the Telugu Desam Party.
He is also said to be contemplating on contesting the next Lok Sabha elections from Visakhapatnam, which has a strong Kapu vote bank.
