YSR Telangana Party leader and former united Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Rajashekhara Reddy's daughter YS Sharmila is reportedly joining the Congress party after merging her party soon and her recent meeting with Karnataka Congress party chief DK Shivakumar gained strength in further making the rumour strong.
YS Sharmila has taken up Padayatras in Telangana in the last ome year emulating her father's similar Padayatra that brought Congress to power in Adnhra Pradesh in 2004.
However, perceived as an Andhra leader and sister of AP Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy, local leaders have been up against her entry into Telangana and advised her to head the AP Congress and revive it instead.
As per the latest news reports, Sharmila is set to join the Congress party after conducting several successful campaigns for the past few days and making to headlines often for her stern resistance to police arrests and restrictions.
The news of Sharmila's entry into the Congress party has gained momentum, particularly after discussions with KVP Ramachandra Rao, who is reportedly playing a mediatory role. While Sharmila's acceptance of joining the Congress party to merge YSR Telangana Party is reliable information from credible sources, her appointment as the head of the Pradesh Congress Committee has been receiving criticism from the Telangana Congress President Revanth Reddy.
#YSR #YSSR pic.twitter.com/2CNLPBAAPR
— YS Sharmila Sena (@sharmila_sena) June 13, 2023
On Monday, following Sharmila's tweet wishing Rahul Gandhi on his birthday, the rumours of her joining the Telangana Congress have gained momentum. She tweeted:"Wishing Shri
Rahul Gandhi ji a very happy and a wonderful birthday. May you continue to inspire the people with your perseverance and patience, and serve them through your sincere efforts. Wishing you great health, happiness, and success in abundance."
Sources confirmed that talks were on between Sharmila and Congress leaders for the merger deal. The YSRTP leader, daughter of former United Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy (YSR), is said to be ready to merge the party. "In return, the Congress will give her and a couple of her close supporters tickets to contest Telangana Assembly polls," sources told IANS.
Meeting with DK after Congress win in K'taka
Sharmila, sister of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, has already declared that she will contest from Paleru constituency in Khammam district and has been assured of tickets to her supporters in the upcoming Assembly eletions following the merger or a possible alliance. recently, she visited Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D. K. Shivakumar twice after the Congress party stormed to power in the neighbouring state.
The meeting on May 29 was significant as Shivakumar is likely to play an active role in strengthening Congress in Telangana by forging alliances with smaller parties and also bringing back leaders who left the party in the past, reports IANS. Shivakumar had close ties with the late YSR and his family. As Sharmila is banking on the legacy of YSR, who was a Congress stalwart, Congress senior leaders in Telangana are seen positive to her joining hands with the party.
Sharmila had already announced that her party was open for talks with anybody to defeat KCR-led Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in the upcoming Assembly elections. Her YSRTP, floated in 2021 promising to bring back 'Rajanna Rajyam' in Telangana, brings forth the rule of YSR during 2004 to 2009 when several welfare measures for farmers and the poor were implemented by the Congress party in the state.
YSR's demise in helicopter crash
YSR, who was the chief minister of united Andhra Pradesh, died in a helicopter crash a few months after leading the Congress party back to power, following which Sharmila's brother Jagan Mohan Reddy quit Congress and floated YSR Congress Party while Sharmila along with her mother Vijayamma stood by him.
When he was in jail in disproportionate assets case, Sharmila undertook padyatra to mobilise support for him. She actively campaigned for YSRCP in the 2014 and 2019 elections in Andhra Pradesh.
However, after after YSRCP's landslide victory in 2019, Jagan Mohan Reddy decided to confine his party to Andhra Pradesh, Sharmila charted her own course by floating YSR Telangana Party.
She undertook padyatra in Telangana to highlight failures of KCR government and has covered a distance of 3,850 km already.
(With inputs from IANS)
