Padmanabham, who died on Tuesday, is believed to have told his family members that his daughter should not be allowed at his funeral.
Image: IANS
Family members and supporters of Mudragada Padmanabham on Wednesday stopped his daughter Barlapudi Kranthi from touching his body at the former Andhra Pradesh minister’s residence at Kirlampudi in Kakinada district.
Padmanabham, who died on Tuesday, is believed to have told his family members that his daughter should not be allowed at his funeral, IANS reported.
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Notably, the Kapu leader had major differences with Kranthi after she came out in support of Pawan Kalyan during the 2024 elections. At that time, she called him the leader of the Kapu community.
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Kranthi had even condemned her father’s statement when he decided to change his name to ‘Padmanabham Reddy’ if he failed to defeat Kalyan from Pithapuram Assembly constituency. He even took a pledge to drive Kalyan out of Pithapuram.
After he was unable to defeat Kalyan, Padmanabham then announced that he had changed his name to ‘Padmanabha Reddy’. Further, he asked his family members to make sure that his daughter was not allowed near him even after his death.
The former minister joined YSRCP a few months before the elections in 2024. He even led the movement for reservation for the Kapu community.
Padmanabham passed away in Hyderabad on Tuesday, while his body was brought to Kirlampudi last night. His family members earlier requested police not to allow Kranthi near the body to honour his wishes.
On Wednesday, police officials were seen stopping cars carrying Kranthi and her supporters at Prathipadu. After she requested to be allowed to see her father for the last time, police told her to reduce the number of vehicles in the convoy. She later proceeded to Kiralmpudi without her supporters.
As she was escorted to her father’s house, this triggered a major protest by the family members and followers of the late leader as they made all possible efforts to stop her.
Thereafter, she somehow managed to reach the body, while her mother expressed anger over her visit and blamed her for his death.
The family members did not allow Kranthi to touch the freezer coffin containing her father’s body and she left the place after spending around two minutes there.
The last rites are scheduled to be performed at Kirlampudi on Wednesday evening. The state government had decided to conduct the funeral with official honours.
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