Ahead of taking over the reins of the Congress party in Andhra Pradesh on January 21 (Sunday), the newly-appointed president Y.S. Sharmila sounds confident and determined for a head-on confrontation with her political opponents. Tasked with putting the battered Congress in Andhra Pradesh back on the rails, she is bracing for a fresh innings of her political career in 2024.
Senior Congress leaders agree that the task is not easy but they feel that the right attitude, mindset and wisdom of the late AP Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy’s firebrand daughter will make a difference in favour of the party.
“It is a great responsibility and I’ll give my best to the party. I understand the growing need to strengthen the Congress, which is the largest secular party in the country,” she said, in a phone conversation with The Hindu. “Because if a non-secular party is voted to power at the Centre, we may have to witness a repeat of the ‘Manipur-like’ violence,” she warned.
