The bloody incident claimed the lives of five Dalit men and left over 40 people severely injured. The scale of violence unleashed in Laxmipeta was on par with Karamchedu (1985) and Tsunduru (1991) caste atrocities, which rocked the then undivided Andhra Pradesh.

Despite their numerical preponderance and a new political discourse of social justice around OBCs catching up across the country, parties in Telangana have paid no heed to the calls for proportional political representation.

The issue of disparities among Dalit sub-groups has long been discussed. The Madiga Reservation Porata Samithi has been pioneering sub-categorisation, but political parties of all colours have failed to make progress.