Police foil caste group's march to Andhra assembly

Police on Wednesday arrested activists of the Madiga Reservation Porata Samithi (MRPS) to foil their attempt to march towards the Andhra Pradesh assembly here.

MRPS leader Manda Krishna Madiga, who had given a call for 'chalo assembly' to demand passing of a resolution on categorisation of scheduled castes, and his supporters were arrested from a hotel in Lakdi Ka Pul near the assembly premise.

Earlier, police arrested about 100 activists, including women, when they tried to break the security cordon and enter the assembly building.

The protestors reached near the assembly gate in a vehicle and tried to enter the legislature building but they were stopped by police, who had made tight security arrangements to foil the march.

The MRPS activists raised slogans against Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and alleged that he betrayed the cause of Scheduled Caste categorisation. Police arrested the protestors for violating orders banning procession, rally or gathering around the assembly building.

MRPS, which represents the Madiga community, has long been fighting for categorisation among various Scheduled Castes so that they could enjoy the benefits of reservation in proportion to their population.

The caste group is demanding that Naidu get passed a resolution in the assembly and lead an all-party delegation to Delhi to exert pressure on the central government to amend the Constitution for categorisation of reservation.

MRPS claims that under the 15 percent combined reservation for Scheduled Castes, only those of the Mala community are cornering the benefits despite being less in population compared to Madigas.