YS Sharmila joined the Congress party on Thursday, 4 January, in the presence of AICC chief Mallikarjun Kharge and party leader Rahul Gandhi. This effectively means she may take on Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, who is also her brother, in the upcoming state elections.
Sharmila's political start-up in Telangana proved to be a damp squib, and the Telangana Congress leadership was hell-bent on opposing her entry into the state's politics.
However, it was not averse to her joining the party and playing an active role in Andhra Pradesh. Thus, she was left with no other option but to take up the responsibility of catapulting the grand old party in Andhra Pradesh, which is tantamount to fighting against her brother.
How 'Jagan's Arrow' Quit His Party
Sharmila is the daughter of the late chief minister of united Andhra Pradesh YS Rajasekhara Reddy. She used to be very active in the YSR Congress. In fact, she undertook a marathon padayatra in the wake of central agencies arresting Jagan on corruption allegations. She then described herself as 'Jagan's arrow'.
But Rajanna Bidda (daughter of YSR) and her brother subsequently fell apart. Sources close to Sharmila allege that Jagan was not ready to accommodate her despite her working so hard for the YSR Congress. Meanwhile, there are credible reports of intra-family disputes over the massive wealth the late CM's family allegedly owns.
Sharmila's loyalists further claim that even her mother Vijayamma's advice in this regard fell on deaf ears. The murder of Vivekananda Reddy, brother of late YSR, in which Jagan's cousin and Kadapa MP Avinash Reddy is one of the accused, has made intra-family dispute even more acrimonious.
She openly backed her cousin and Vivekananda Reddy's daughter Suneetha in this episode, much to the chagrin of Jagan. Sharmila and her mother Vijayamma, too, were reportedly annoyed with Jagan decision's to field Avinash Reddy from Kadapa in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, instead of someone from the Rajasekhara Reddy family. As the political and family disputes converged, Sharmila deserted YS Jagan.
However, she was not immediately ready to fight Jagan head-on. She might have desisted from doing so for personal and political reasons. Family pressures might have discouraged her from entering Andhra Pradesh politics. Besides, she has little scope to succeed in the state given that electoral power is completely divided between the Jagan-led YSR Congress, and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) led by former CM N Chandrababu Naidu and the Janasena led by actor-turned-politician Pawan Kalyan (the latter two recently decided to contest together).
Sharmila's Political Calculations
And so, Sharmila decided to launch her party in Telangana called the YSR Telangana Party (YSRTP), claiming Telangana domicile.
She undertook an arduous walkathon for thousands of kilometres, making grave allegations against the then-ruling KCR (K Chandrashekar Rao) regime. She made serious allegations against the leaders of other parties, including the current CM and state Congress chief A Revanth Reddy.
Many of the senior Congress leaders who were close to Rajasekhara Reddy enjoyed a bonhomie with Sharmila. These leaders were opposed to Revanth Reddy in the intra-party rivalry. Thus, Sharmila's criticism of Revanth Reddy was music to the ears of the latter's detractors.
But all her political calculations proved to be childish and exaggerated. She failed to realise the changed political idiom in Telangana post-bifurcation. Political formations led by leaders from the Seemandhra region that now constitute the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh soon faded away into oblivion in the new state of Telangana. Such was a strong sub-regional identity. Facing the headwinds of Telangana sentiment, Sharmila tried to do her politics by invoking the YSR sentiment.
Jagan was the first to pack up his YSR Congress from Telangana soon after the bifurcation despite an MP and three MLAs from the party winning in the 2014 elections. He realised the futility of continuing his political party in Telangana, whose raison d'etre is the opposition to Seemandhra's political and cultural dominance.
Chandrababu Naidu continued his TDP in Telangana even after the state's formation as his party was in alliance with the BJP. The TDP won two seats in the 2018 Assembly elections despite KCR's operation vanquishing the party. But Naidu, too, finally abandoned Telangana and his party kept away from the recent Assembly polls.
Against this backdrop, Sharmila has finally realised the ground situation and announced her decision not to contest and instead support the Congress in the Telangana Assembly elections. She tried in vain to join the electoral fray in Telangana by contesting from a paler seat in Khammam after merging her party in Congress.
However, this was not possible due to the strong resistance from Congress leaders, especially Revanth Reddy. Thus, she was left with no choice but to unconditionally extend support to the party. Still, the Telangana Congress refused to entertain her during their electioneering, fearing backlash due to the Telangana sentiment.
The Congress contested the 2018 polls in alliance with the TDP, and KCR used this to his advantage, and feared a similar situation if Sharmila was accommodated in the state, especially before the Assembly elections.
Will Sharmila-Led Congress Join Forces With Naidu?
Sharmila is unlikely to be a direct player in the Telangana Congress. Sources reveal that the Congress high command may ask her to lead the party in Andhra Pradesh though she reportedly sought a position in the All India Congress Committee so that she can participate in both the Telugu states.
There are also reports that she may be considered for the Rajya Sabha from neighboring Karnataka. Sharmila has enjoyed cordial relations with Karnataka Deputy CM DK Shivakumar right from the days of her father.
However, what is not clear is whether the Sharmila-led Congress will contest the ensuing Andhra Pradesh polls independently or join the opposition bandwagon led by Chandrababu Naidu.
She sent a Christmas gift to Nara Lokesh, son of Chandrababu Naidu, on behalf of the YSR family. Interestingly enough, Lokesh thanked her on behalf of the Nara Chandrababu Naidu family. It may be recalled that Naidu and YSR were arch-rivals in united Andhra Pradesh politics. This strange gesture on Sharmila's part fuelled enough political speculation over the new political realignment in Andhra Pradesh.
Meanwhile, political observers are busy decoding Sharmila's possible impact on the electoral outcome in Andhra Pradesh. If she takes a chunk of the YSR Congress vote, which primarily comprises Congress voters who turned to Jagan due to their love for the late Rajasekhara Reddy, the ruling party will badly suffer.
The YSR Congress, which is already facing stiff challenges from the TDP-Janasena combine, cannot afford to lose any votes. Jagan is contemplating denying the renomination of a sizable number of sitting legislators. Disgruntled YSR Congress leaders may find in Sharmila an alternative. YSR Congress MLA from Mangalagiri Alla Ramakrishna Reddy, who defeated Lokesh in 2019, has already extended support to Sharmila leadership as it was clear that he will not be fielded again.
The Chandrababu Naidu-led opposition must be enjoying the developments in the YSR family. The Congress, which was decimated in Andhra Pradesh for bifurcating the state against the wishes of the people of this region, sees in Sharmila an opportunity for revival. The grand old party's hopes got a boost in the wake of recent victories in neighboring Telangana and Karnataka.
(Prof K Nageshwar is a senior political analyst, faculty member of Osmania University, and a former MLC. This is an opinion piece and the views expressed are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for them.)
(This story was originally published on 3 January 2023. It has been republished with edits in light of YS Sharmila joining the Congress on 4 January 2023.)
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