Hyderabad/Kadapa: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) chief Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has questioned his sister and state Congress chief Y.S. Sharmila for staking claim to their father Y.S. Rajasekhara (YSR) Reddy’s political legacy and asked voters to settle the dispute with their mandate.
Sharmila, the Congress candidate from Kadapa Lok Sabha constituency, filed her nomination last week, while Jagan has renominated sitting YSRCP MP Y.S. Avinash Reddy for the seat. Andhra Pradesh votes simultaneously for Lok Sabha and assembly elections on 13 May.
Jagan has also accused his two sisters — Sharmila and Dr Suneetha Narreddy — of becoming part of a conspiracy by Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief Chandrababu Naidu and his allies Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-Jana Sena Party (JSP) against him.
Jagan’s high-pitched attack on his sister and cousin over issues, including uncle Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy’s alleged murder in 2019, was launched in YSR family hometown, Pulivendula, where he filed his nomination papers Thursday. Pulivendula is one of the seven assembly segments in Kadapa.
“Unable to face me alone in the poll arena, Chandrababu, his ‘adopted son’ Pawan Kalyan (JSP chief) and sister-in-law D. Purandeswari together have targeted me. Some people claiming to be YSR’s successors are now coming before you as part of their conspiracy,” Jagan told a YSRCP public meeting in Pulivendula before the nomination.
The CM added that “people should decide who YSR’s successor is”.
The YSRCP chief said that the Congress had tried to discount YSR’s name and reputation by filing cases and mentioning the late leader’s name in the CBI chargesheet (in connection with Jagan’s DA case).
“It was the Congress that tried to remove the YSR legacy. Congress could not get as many votes as NOTA did (in 2019 AP polls). The Congress was responsible for Andhra Pradesh’s bifurcation and it neglected to include the special category status in the State Reorganisation Act. Will anyone vote for the party that broke the state?” asked CM Jagan.
Asserting that his sisters were reading his opponent’s provided script, Jagan pointed out that Sharmila even met Chandrababu Naidu wearing a yellow saree — the colour associated with the TDP.
The YSRCP chief said that some of his own have joined forces with YSR opponents for their political greed. “Are they political successors of YSR or Chandrababu?” he asked.
Jagan added that voting for the Congress is akin to voting for Chandrababu. “Who will benefit if our votes are split? It will be Chandrababu and the BJP,” he said.
Both Sharmila and Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy’s daughter, Suneetha, have been raking up his murder case in their campaigns.
Reacting to the case, which has become a talking point in YSR Kadapa district and Pulivendula town, where the alleged murder took place, Jagan said that “people of this district know who killed my uncle Vivekananda.”
While the sisters are publicly reprimanding Jagan for renominating Y.S. Avinash Reddy, an accused in the CBI probed case, for the Kadapa LS seat, Jagan, who was flanked by the sitting MP in the rally, defended his decision.
“Is it not true that Vivekananda had a second wife? I strongly believe that Avinash did nothing wrong, so I gave the ticket for him to contest the election,” asserted Jagan, while saying that Avinash’s version is being ignored.
‘Fight is between justice, injustice’
ThePrint interacted with Sharmila briefly at the Kadapa district Congress office, after she filed her nomination papers Saturday. When asked if she is taking the Kadapa election as a direct confrontation with her brother to settle scores, Sharmila described it as “a fight between justice and injustice.”
“Let people like you and voters be the judge on who represents justice and injustice,” said Sharmila, while handing B-forms to some of the Congress assembly candidates.
Sharmila, who with her rallies and statewide speeches was instrumental in Jagan’s landslide victory in 2019, was denied any role in the YSRCP or government later.
Following this, she differed with her CM brother and formed the YSR Telangana Party in 2021, which she merged with the Congress last year and was made the Andhra Pradesh unit chief this January.
On Sunday, after her election affidavit revealed that she owes Rs 82.58 crore to her brother and Rs 19.56 lakh to sister-in-law and Jagan’s wife Bharathi Reddy, Sharmila implied her brother of denying her the rightful share of the family property.
Seeking to send out a clarification, Sharmila told reporters that “some brothers pose like they are favouring their sisters by giving some amount as gift/loan, while assuming that the sister’s share of the property as theirs.”
“The family is aware of the facts (of property share), God knows. Unfortunately, we have many brothers like this in our society.”
According to Jagan’s election affidavit, his assets grew by 41 percent in five years. His assets value during 2019 polls was submitted as Rs 375.20 crore, which is now about Rs 529 crore. In addition, his wife Bharathi Reddy’s present assets are stated as worth Rs 176.30 crore. Jagan’s family’s total assets — moveable, immovable, including those in the name of his two daughters — comes to over Rs 757 crore.
Jagan is named in 26 cases, most of them filed by CBI and ED in connection with the DA case before he became the CM.
Meanwhile, Sharmila had declared assets worth Rs 132.56 crore in her election nomination papers and stated Rs 82 crore as loan taken from Jagan.
While Sharmila casts aspersions on brother over property, her efforts in bringing YSRCP to power in 2019 and during earlier polls were entirely discounted in the movie, Yatra 2, based on Jagan’s ascendancy to power, now streaming on Amazon Prime.
When questioned about why Sharmila’s character was removed from the film, director Mahi V. Raghav told ThePrint, “The story revolves around father and son and the son’s promise and journey. As per the theme and objective of the script, Sharmila’s character is not needed. There can be various versions of the same story. Apart from her, there are a whole lot of other important characters which didn’t make it into the film.”
(Edited by Richa Mishra)
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