New Delhi: YSR Telangana Party (YSRTP) chief Y.S. Sharmila Thursday met Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in Delhi, a development that came amid signals that she is working towards merging her party with the Congress ahead of the assembly elections in Telangana later this year.
Sharmila had formed the YSRTP in July 2021, following differences with her brother Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, who is the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and heads the YSR Congress Party.
Both lay claim to the legacy of their late father, the Congress stalwart Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy (YSR), who was the CM of undivided Andhra Pradesh from 2004 until his death in a helicopter crash on 2 September 2009.
Following her meeting with the Gandhis at 10 Janpath, Sharmila told reporters that the discussions were “constructive”. The meeting came two days ahead of YSR’s death anniversary.
During her brief interaction with reporters, Sharmila sidestepped a question on whether she plans to merge her party with the Congress. “YSR’s daughter Sharmila will continuously strive for the benefit, uplift of the Telangana people… One thing I would like to state is that KCR’s countdown has started,” she said, referring to K. Chandrashekar Rao, currently serving his second term as Telangana CM.
While Sharmila’s statement indicated that she would prefer to focus on Telangana, the Congress is learnt to be more keen on using her political influence in Andhra Pradesh.
Over the last few months, Sharmila has dropped several hints that she has moved past the bitterness that her family developed towards the Gandhis following YSR’s death.
On 20 August, the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, she posted on X (formerly Twitter) a picture of the late Congress leader with her father. The accompanying caption read, “Two young leaders with vision and on a mission to change the lives of millions, have gone on too soon. India will always remember them and miss them.”
After Rahul Gandhi was reinstated as MP earlier this month, she put up a long post in his praise.
“While your unwavering grit continues to rekindle hopes among millions of people across the nation, justice took its course and delivered a verdict that gladdened many hearts,” she posted.
“I am now sure your participation in the parliamentary process will once again go a long way in voicing the concerns of the people of the nation,” she added.
She had also reposted Rahul’s message on the occasion of YSR’s birth anniversary on 8 July. “His model of welfarism remains the preferred model of governance across the country even to date. Thank you sir, Dr YSR remains in your heart,” she added.
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Gandhis and Reddys
While the former Andhra CM was extremely close to the Gandhis, the two families started drifting apart after Jagan launched his ‘Odarpu Yatra (condolence tour)’ in 2010 to meet the families of those who had either allegedly died by suicide or of shock upon receiving the news of his father’s death.
The Congress high-command’s reading of the yatra was that it was an attempt by Jagan to pitch himself as the next CM. The Jagan camp later claimed that he made up his mind to quit the Congress the day he allegedly saw his mother Vijayalakshmi cry in front of Sonia Gandhi when they came to request her to allow the yatra to happen.
Notwithstanding the high-command’s misgivings, Jagan went ahead with the yatra, and later quit his Lok Sabha seat and the party in November 2010, along with his mother, who also quit as an MLA.
In May 2012, Jagan was arrested by the CBI on charges of amassing disproportionate assets.
As the developments unfolded, Sharmila stayed by her brother’s side. But differences between the two started surfacing in the wake of the 2019 general elections — held alongside the Andhra assembly elections — after she was allegedly denied any plum political or administrative role by Jagan, who won by a landslide.
She floated a new party, but her focus remains on Telangana as she is reportedly not too keen in a direct competition with her brother.
Meanwhile, a section of Telangana Congress leaders, it is learnt, are not comfortable with the idea of Sharmila’s induction as the Reddy family was against the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh that resulted in the creation of Telangana in 2014.
Last year, Sharmila crisscrossed Telangana as part of a 3800-km ‘Praja Prasthanam Padayatra’, during which she primarily targeted the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS, formerly Telangana Rashtra Samithi) and its supremo KCR.
Last December, she announced that she will be contesting the Telangana assembly election from the Palair constituency, which comes under the Khammam district.
Khammam, which borders Andhra Pradesh, has a large presence of people from the Kamma community, to which Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief and former Andhra CM Chandrababu Naidu belongs.
The TDP, which is also planning to contest the Telangana polls, is also likely to focus on the Khammam region due to the socio-cultural affinity of its residents, particularly the Kamma, with the people of Andhra Pradesh.
Speaking to reporters during his visit to Delhi, Naidu told reporters last Wednesday that the TDP is currently finalising its poll plan for Telangana, where the Congress has also been making an aggressive push.
(Edited by Sunanda Ranjan)
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