Kapu reservation activist Mudragada Padmanabha dies aged 73 in Hyderabad
Mudragada Padmanabha, the face of the Kapu reservation movement in Andhra Pradesh, passed away on Tuesday in Hyderabad after a long illness. He was 73.
Known for rallying the Kapu community (which makes up about 15% to 18% of the state's population), he pushed hard to get them included in the Backward Classes list, but despite promises from big names like Chandrababu Naidu and Jagan Mohan Reddy, it never happened.
Veteran Kapu activist, former TDP MP
Padmanabha started out as a Janata Party MLA back in 1978, later joining NTR's cabinet and serving as a TDP MP from 1999 to 2004.
His activism peaked with the Kapu Garjana protest in Tuni in 2016.
Even after stepping back from party politics (he symbolically changed his name after Pawan Kalyan's win), he kept fighting for Kapu rights through open letters until his last days.
His efforts to unite a divided voter base have left a lasting mark on Andhra politics.