(S.R.Seshu)
Kapu Nadu leader and former Minister Mudragada Padmanabham and his wife Padmavathi called off their 13-day-long fast-unto-death in their native town Kirlampudi in East Godavari district on Wednesday (June 22, 2016).

The leaders, for whose arrest prompted Mudragada to sit for the indefinite fast, offered lemon juice to the couple bringing a temporary relief to the Kapu community across Andhra Pradesh.

Visibly weak and feeble, Mudragada described how police abused and manhandled his family members three hours after he had launched the stir and vowed to continue the struggle for Kapu reservation. He was in tears when he revealed the foul words used by the police against his wife, daughter-in-law and son. “They (those who are responsible for this) will pay for it. I will wait for the good news to hear. Till then my family will not celebrate any festival,” Mudragada declared.

More than anything, Mudragada seems to be very upset and got hurt with the police highhandedness. “My father was a two time MLA and I was a four time MLA, twice Minister and one-time MP. Yet, the very police, whom I fed many a time, misbehaved with us. No other political family has been insulted this way,” he said adding that he was denied television, newspapers and mobile phone during the custody in Rajahmundry.

Disclosing his future course of action, Mudragada said that he would like to work under the leadership of the Kapu Joint Action Committee to make the TDP government to implement what it had promised during the elections.