YS Sharmila, the sister of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy who joined the Congress on January 4 in the presence of party chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, is now ready to don a new role. She has been appointed as the state in-charge of the grand old party in Andhra Pradesh.
The daughter of the late stalwart YS Rajasekhara Reddy has her task clearly cut out as the Lok Sabha elections are just around the corner. Andhra Pradesh will also go to polls around the same time.
Even though she has been made the PCC chief, sources close to Sharmila maintain that she is unlikely to get into the electoral fray from her home state. If sources are to be believed, the Congress top brass has promised her a Rajya Sabha nomination from the neighbouring state of Karnataka.
Earlier, she had merged her YSR Telangana Party (YSRTP) with the grand old party. Although Telangana based, her political outfit did not participate in the state assembly elections of Telangana, which were held recently.
ANDHRA GROUND REALITY
Andhra Pradesh is said to be a battle between the ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) and its bitter rival Telugu Desam Party (TDP), which is in alliance with Pawan Kalyan-led Jana Sena. Then comes the Congress and the fourth in the fray is the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has been desperately trying to find its footprint in South India, especially in Andhra Pradesh. In the last elections, the vote percentage of the BJP was barely 1%.
The Congress is fancying its chances, given the recent success in Karnataka, where it overthrew the BJP government with a clear majority.
ALL IN THE FAMILY
Sharmila’s task is also to take on her elder brother and AP CM YS Jaganmohan Reddy-led YSRCP.
Jagan is serving his first term as the chief minister of the state, and that too with a defining majority. Jagan’s party has 151 MLAs in the assembly and 22 MPs in the Lok Sabha. Recently, TDP Lok Sabha MP Kesinani resigned from the TDP and joined the YSRCP.
In the run-up to the assembly and the Lok Sabha polls, many leaders who are denied ticket by Jagan’s party are likely to jump either to the TDP or even the Congress, in which Sharmila is likely to play a crucial role.
While Sharmila is expected to marshall the resources, Jagan’s party is perceived by many to be a team close to the BJP. The YSRCP lent his support to the Centre on multiple bills in Parliament and the candidature of the president and vice-president.
Sharmila came to the fore when she undertook a major padyatra in 2012 when her brother was in jail. Along with her mother, Vijayamma, Sharmila’s yatra travelled more than 3,000km, crossing 14 districts in the state.
Following differences with her brother in July 2021, she launched her own party, the YSRTP.
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