This latest crisis has echoes of previous Kapu–Kamma flare-ups, which have shaped Andhra’s political landscape for decades.
Published Oct 20, 2025 | 12:15 PM ⚊ Updated Oct 20, 2025 | 12:15 PM
Andhra Pradesh Home Minister Vangalapudi Anitha met with the victim's kin. Credit: x.com/Anitha_TDP
Synopsis: The murder of Tirumalasetty Lakshmi Naidu, a 25-year-old Kapu youth in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh, on October 2, has sparked a caste-based conflict between Kapu and Kamma communities. The accused, Harichandra Prasad, was arrested, but political parties, especially YSRCP, are fueling tensions. The TDP-led government is intervening to prevent escalation, promising justice and support for the victim’s family.
The ghastly murder of Tirumalasetty Lakshmi Naidu, a young man of 25 from the Kapu community in Nellore district, Andhra Pradesh, on 2 October, has rapidly turned into a full-blown caste conflict, threatening a wider Kapu–Kamma confrontation in the politically volatile region.
The Kapu youth Tirumalasetty Lakshmi Naidu was killed several days ago in Rallapadu village, Gudluru mandal, Nellore district. He was rammed by a car reportedly driven by one Harichandra Prasad, who was known to him. In the incident, Lakshmi Naidu’s brother and cousin sustained critical injuries and are under treatment in a Guntur hospital. The police quickly arrested Harichandra Prasad, the main accused in the case, and his father, and sent them to judicial remand.
In an urgent attempt to contain the spiraling tensions, Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu reached out to Jana Sena leader and Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan for consultations. Meanwhile, Naidu also dispatched Home Minister Vangalapudi Anitha, Municipal Minister P Narayana, and Jana Sena legislator Bolisetty Srinivas to the bereaved family’s village, Darakanipadu, on Sunday, hoping to douse the flames of caste polarisation already being fuelled by the opposition YSRCP.
The team was carefully chosen to reflect the unity of TDP and the Jana Sena, to counter the narrative of caste-based partisanship and to ensure that the Kapu community did not feel isolated or targeted.
Anitha’s team has been asked to delve deeply into the factors that led to Lakshmi Naidu’s murder, examine the action taken by the police, and assess the kind of help the victim’s family needs.
After arriving at Darakanipadu, Anitha spoke to Sujatha, the victim’s wife, for a long time, promising full support from the government in her hour of personal loss. Chandrababu Naidu also spoke to Sujatha over the phone, consoling her for her loss.
“We are determined to see that the accused get the most severe punishment. If necessary, a special court will be set up to render quick justice. The government will stand by you and your two children,” he said.
Anitha promised Sujatha that justice would be done to her as early as possible and that the police would investigate deeply into the involvement of others, if any, in the crime and the motive, which is now being attributed to a land dispute. Anitha spoke to Naidu from there itself and briefed him about their visit and how she had commiserated with the distraught family.
నెల్లూరు జిల్లా గుడ్లూరు మండలం దారకానిపాడులో ఇటీవల హత్యకు గురైన తిరుమలశెట్టి లక్ష్మీనాయుడు కుటుంబసభ్యులను పరామర్శించడం జరిగింది. సహచర మంత్రివర్యులు శ్రీ @Dr_NarayanaP.గారితో కలిసి లక్ష్మీనాయుడు చిత్రపటానికి నివాళులు అర్పించడం జరిగింది.
గౌరవ ముఖ్యమంత్రి శ్రీ @ncbn గారు స్వయంగా… pic.twitter.com/Y4hlPbasvd— Anitha Vangalapudi (@Anitha_TDP) October 19, 2025
The minister lashed out at the YSRCP for trying to benefit politically even from the death of a person. “It is time for everyone to support the family of the victim as they mourn the loss of their family head. We will submit a report to the CM on how the government could support Sujatha and her two children, Pawan and Bhargav,” she said. She appealed to casteist forces not to convert the incident into a caste conflict but to help the family with a humane heart.
Though the police registered the motive of the crime as personal enmity, the situation took a dramatic turn as political parties and local leaders began interpreting the murder through a caste lens — rapidly mobilising support and rhetoric along Kapu and Kamma lines, both influential and historically rival communities in coastal Andhra.
The YSRCP wasted no time in raising the pitch, leveraging social media and village-level networks to claim that the incident reflected systematic targeting of the Kapu community, allegedly by dominant groups with ruling party connections. Tensions were further inflamed by viral videos and WhatsApp messages, with both sides accusing the other of stoking unrest for political gain.
Despite the government’s efforts, the tragedy has quickly turned into a political flashpoint. YSRCP leaders accused the coalition government of protecting the perpetrators due to their alleged Kamma background and intensified campaigns on the ground as well as online. Inflammatory posts and provocative slogans drawing on historical Kapu–Kamma rivalries circulated widely, resurrecting memories of past caste clashes in Andhra Pradesh.
Leaders from both communities — some clearly aligned with political parties — staged protests, each blaming the other side for the escalation. The murder is being painted not just as an individual crime but as a symptom of deeper socio-political fault lines that have periodically scarred the state.
This latest crisis has echoes of previous Kapu–Kamma flare-ups, which have shaped Andhra’s political landscape for decades. The Vangaveeti Ranga–Devineni feud in Vijayawada and Ranga’s murder in 1988 — and the bloodshed it unleashed subsequently — serve as grim reminders of how quickly local disputes can spiral into state-wide caste wars.
In this particular context, both the ruling coalition and the YSRCP appear acutely aware of the potential for unrest to become a political powder keg.
The fact that TDP government moved quickly, involving not just its own party apparatus but also its allies and directly consulting with Pawan Kalyan, is seen not just as crisis management but as an attempt to bridge the perilous gap between Kapu and Kamma constituencies.
Meanwhile, YSRCP’s strategy appears aimed at deepening the perception that the coalition government favours Kamma interests over Kapus, hoping to consolidate Kapu voters while destabilising the TDP–Jana Sena alliance.
As the investigation proceeds, officials remain wary of further escalation. Police have arrested the suspects but have also beefed up security in the village and surrounding mandals, anticipating the potential for retaliation or opportunistic violence.
(Edited by Amit Vasudev)
