Hyderabad: With YS Sharmila formally becoming the Andhra Pradesh Congress president, the ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) headed by her brother and AP chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy is taking the development seriously. Sharmila had merged her outfit, the YSR Telangana Party, (YSRTP) with the Congress earlier this week and will now shift base from Telangana to Andhra.
Sharmila, who is the daughter of the late Andhra Pradesh (erstwhile state) chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy, had withdrawn herself from the race in the run to the November 30 Telangana state polls. She had initially announced to contest from the Palair seat but finally withdrew her candidature, and extended support to Congress. While there had been talks of her joining the Congress in Telangana last year, it did not work out as many within the state unit were opposed to it.
With everything clear now, the Congress is also banking on Sharmila to revive the party in AP especially given that it has been more or less defunct since the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in 2014. Jagan, who split from the Congress in 2011 and started the YSRCP, managed to pull most of the leaders from the grand old party, which declined as it was held responsible by the larger public in AP for the state’s bifurcation.
With Sharmila back in AP, the YSRCP is a little wary as her presence may give them some trouble electorally in the upcoming state and Lok Sabha polls this year. Assembly elections will be held simultaneously with the Parliamentary polls in Andhra this year. “While the party is not worried about Sharmila having an impact on the result, we are trying to assess what might happen. If the Congress is revived, then it can split our votes and help the opposition,” stated a YSRCP functionary.
Currently in Andhra, the main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) led by ex-AP chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu has joined hands with actor-turned-politician Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena Party (JSP). Kalyan, who is also part of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), had announced the alliance with Naidu last year.
In the 2014 polls, the TDP and BJP contested the polls with Kalyan’s support and managed to come to power. However, in 2018, Kalyan suddenly decided he would contest the elections on his own, leading to the YSRCP sweeping 151 out of 175 seats in AP. The TDP with just 23 seats in the Assembly faced its worst defeat. However, this time with TDP and JSP back together, and with Sharmila in the Congress, the YSRCP may have a small hill to climb.
”It all depends on how much effort she puts in. In the last election, Congress got about 1% of the total vote share. Even if it goes up by 4% it won’t make a difference, but if she can ensure that even one MLA walks into the Assembly it will help the Congress. Currently, Jagan is the beneficiary of the grand old party’s vote bank. The TDP and Jana Sena are banking on her pulling some of the YSRCP’s vote share. It depends on how much she pulls to have an impact,” said a source close to Sharmila.
The source pointed out that Sharmila joining the Congress was a grand affair, as the Gandhi family members along with the national president Mallikarjun Kharge were all present. The source further said, “She got an appointment with Sonia Gandhi within 15 minutes. Now you recall when Revanth Reddy joined the party in 2018, and it was not like this.”
It may be recalled that Sharmila had even campaigned for the YSRCP in the 2019 polls, and was expecting a Lok Sabha ticket from her brother. However, with nothing in sight, she then shifted to Telangana and started the YSRTP and began campaigning in the state. With the YSRTP gone, it is to be seen if or how her entry into the Congress changes the game in AP.
