YSRT Party leader and daughter of Congress stalwart Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, Y.S. Sharmila, joined the Congress party on Thursday. She also merged her party with Congress.
Sharmila joined the party in the presence of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and other senior leaders of the party. Sharmila said it was her father’s dream to see Rahul Gandhi as prime minister and added she is ready to accept any role assigned by the party. Sharmila told presspersons that her party stayed away from Telangana elections as they didn’t want to break anti-BRS votes.
The exercise to bring Sharmila back into the fold of her late father Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy’s party began before the Telangana elections. However, it hit a roadblock as a section of Telangana Congress leaders opposed her entry into Telangana, citing her roots in the Rayalaseema region of Andhra Pradesh, anticipating a negative impact on the outcome of polls. Sharmila, too, wasn’t willing to take on her brother, CM Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, in AP, as per the wishes of the high command.
Post-Congress victory in Telangana, Sharmila, who maintained a low profile during the polls by opting out of it, burst onto the scene again. She held a meeting with her party leaders where she made it clear that she would merge her party with the Congress.
Sources in the know of the developments said Sharmila was willing to join Congress unconditionally and has accepted to play a key role in AP to leverage her father’s image to revive the party, which is on its deathbed in the state, with no representation in either the Assembly or the Parliament. The task is cut out for Sharmila. She is expected to position herself strongly as a true successor to her father YSR and attempt to occupy the space of her brother Y.S. Jagan. She is also expected to nosedive into the elections and try to orchestrate defections in her brother’s party, YSRCP.
For some time now, YSRCP President Y.S. Jagan has made it clear to his sitting MLAs that some of them might not get the tickets due to anti-incumbency against them. This is where the Congress sees an opportunity. It expects many of the disgruntled legislators who are denied tickets to join Congress. The immediate aim of Congress is to improve vote share and strengthen the party with the induction of strong leaders and once again establish an emotional connection with the voters who are yet to forgive the party for bifurcating the state.
