Vijayawada: The resignation from the post of YSR Congress Party honorary presidency by Vijayamma, mother of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has confirmed the differences within the family members of late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy popularly known as YSR notwithstanding the stout denial by the leaders of YSRCP.
At the plenary of YSRCP held at Guntur, Vijayamma announced that she is quitting from the post as she is keen to work with her daughter Sharmila, who formed the YSR Telangana Party (YSTP) exactly a year ago to usher in ‘Rajanna Rajyam’ in Telangana.
However, political circles believe that sidelining by brother Jagan forced Sharmila to form a separate political party. The objective of this party is to win assembly elections in Telangana taking advantage of goodwill left behind by populist schemes launched by YSR when he was the Chief Minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh during 2004-09.
Incidentally, both the mother-daughter duo sweated out and fought for Jagan when he was in jail owing to the alleged ‘quid pro quo’ scam in 2012. While Vijayamma looked after the party affairs, Sharmila singlehandedly undertook a 3,000-km long walkathon in 14 districts of AP to expose what she termed ‘vindictive’ action by Congress-led UPA Government at the Centre and the government led by Kiran Kumar Reddy in the State.
However, after coming to power in 2019, both the mother and daughter were not involved actively in the party affairs. With Sharmila’s decision to form YSRTP at the 72nd birth anniversary of YSR in Hyderabad has further exposed cracks within the family.
TDP president and Leader of the opposition N. Chandrababu Naidu during a rally in Rayalaseema alleged that distancing of mother and daughter led to their exit from YSRCP. TDP leaders allege that Bharati Reddy, wife of Jagan is calling the shots in party affairs.
Reacting to the criticism, YSRCP parliamentary party leader V. Vijayasai Reddy denied any rift in the family of Jagan and said to focus more on YSRTP, Vijayamma distanced herself from YSRTP. He also claimed that Bharati Reddy neither showed any interest in party affairs nor official activities.
While denying any differences with her brother during media interactions in the past, Sharmila had stated that she wanted to focus on Telangana and bring back ‘Rajanna welfare programmes’ in Telangana.
Earlier, at the inaugural of the plenary, Vijayamma declared that her daughter was in need of her support to bring YSRTP to power in Telangana. She clarified that she decided to quit the post so that it should not create trouble for her children and put an end to all the controversies surrounding her post as the honorary president in both the parties.
“Sharmila is fighting to establish Rajanna Rajyam in Telangana–the welfare government of YSR. I have decided to stand by her in her fight and my blessings will always be with Jagan as his mother,” Vijayamma clarified in her address.
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