The appointment of Y.S. Sharmila as president of the Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) by the party leadership has added a curious twist to the election fever in the State.
The AICC leadership is clearly aiming at rejuvenating the party in Andhra Pradesh, which needs a charismatic leader with the capacity to pull crowds. Party seniors in Delhi are hopeful that Ms. Sharmila, who is the daughter of former Chief Minister late Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, a strong Congress leader with a huge following, will be able to strike a chord with the people of the State.
The Congress leaders claim that at a time when the ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) is witnessing defections by leaders who are denied ticket, Ms. Sharmila’s takeover of the Congress reins will attract a good number of YSR supporters like former Mangalagiri MLA Alla Ramakrishna Reddy and others into the party fold.
The merger of the YSR Telangana Party with the Congress may seem a win-win situation for both sides, but tough tasks await the former in Andhra Pradesh.
Tasked with restoring the past glory of the grand old party in the State, Ms. Sharmila is in a piquant situation, where she is pitted against her own brother and Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, for whom she had relentlessly campaigned, leading to his party’s landslide victory in the 2019 elections.
Now, with Ms. Sharmila’s Congress pitted against her brother Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy, the State will witness a new chapter of sibling rivalry.
Sources in the party said that Ms. Sharmila might physically be present in the party here after her son’s engagement scheduled on January 18 in Hyderabad.
The Congress party is clearly in the anti-Jagan camp with the senior leaders strongly criticising the Chief Minister’s “autocratic rule” and for “leading the State into bankruptcy by squandering all the money on populist schemes with an eye on the vote bank.”
Though a majority of the party leaders are upbeat about her entry into the party, a few seniors have questioned her claim on ‘YSR legacy’ after she made a failed attempt to seek the support of the people of Telangana by claiming that she is “Telangana bidda” (daughter of Telangana).
Former MP G. V. Harsha Kumar went a step further and alleged that the siblings (Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy and Ms. Sharmila) were working hand-in-glove to keep any possible trouble from the Centre at bay, should the Congress-led INDIA bloc come to power.
A few others are questioning her silence when the agitating farmers of Amaravati region were harassed by the ruling party, or when Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy “unleashed a reign of terror in the State depriving the common man of his right to protest peacefully.”
Pitted against many odds, it is to be seen if Ms. Sharmila will be the game changer for the Congress party’s revival in Andhra Pradesh.
