"Sharmila most welcome to join Congress:" AP AICC in-charge about buzz on YS Jagan Mohan Reddy's sister's entry into his party

Sharmila’s relations with her brother YS Jagan Mohan Reddy started souring in 2021. Since then, her political plans have been discussed in the southern state but came into the limelight recently when she met Karnataka deputy chief minister and state unit chief DK Shiv Kumar in Bengaluru, writes Amit Agnihotri

New Delhi:The Congress on Wednesday said that YSRTP leader YS Sharmila Reddy was ‘welcome’ to the grand old party amid a buzz that Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s estranged sister might be contemplating the move.

Sharmila’s relations with her brother YS Jagan Mohan Reddy started souring in 2021. Since then, her political plans have been discussed in the southern state but came into the limelight recently when she met Karnataka deputy chief minister and state unit chief DK Shiv Kumar in Bengaluru.

There was also a buzz in the grand old party that both former Congress chiefs Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi would visit the native place of former chief minister YS Rajshekhar Reddy on his anniversary on July 8 to pay tributes to the late leader.

The merger of Sharmila’s YSRTP into the Congress could be announced there, said the sources. “See, such decisions are taken at the top level, I am not in the loop. But if this happens, Sharmila is most welcome to our party. She has the blood of the Congress and is the daughter of Rajshekhar Reddy. She is a known face. While the Congress is the true representative of the legacy of the late YS Rajshekhar Reddy in Andhra Pradesh, his daughter YS Sharmila Reddy represents the family legacy of the former chief minister and Congress stalwart. The Congress will benefit from her presence and get additional boots on the ground. Sharmila can potentially be the party’s chief ministerial face,” AICC Secretary in charge of Andhra Pradesh CD Meyyappan told this channel.

When asked about the planned visit of the Gandhis on July 8, Meyyappan said he was not aware of it at present but would do the needful if asked. “I have no information of the visit of our former party chiefs. But we would make all the necessary arrangements if asked by the party. People who believe in the Congress ideology and in the leadership of the Gandhis are most welcome to join the Congress and work to develop the party in the state,” he said.

Sources said the Congress is trying to regroup in Andhra Pradesh, once its stronghold but now a tough territory, by roping in YS Sharmila, who can be an effective counter to the Jagan Mohan’s YSRCP.

Jagan had rebelled from Congress after the accidental death of his father in a chopper crash in 2009 and claimed that he be given the top executive post. But that did not happen as the AICC viewed things differently. Jagan then floated his own outfit YSRCP. In the elections that followed the creation of the new state Telangana in 2013, TDP came to power in Andhra Pradesh, while then TRS swept Telangana. The Congress performed badly in both the states and has been trying to regroup since then.

“YSRCP hijacked the legacy of the Congress in Andhra Pradesh. The workers and leaders of Jagan’s party are all originally from Congress. They promised a lot to the state but the people have now realized that such claims were hollow. The people have also tried out the rival TDP and know that only the Congress can implement the promises that it makes,” said Meyyappan.

According to the AICC secretary in charge of Andhra Pradesh, the Congress is harping on the special category status promise for the state that both chief minister Jagan Mohan and former chief minister Chandra Babu Naidu had been talking about.

“Both Naidu and Jagan did nothing towards the special category status for the state. Over the past 9 years, they have seen both YSRCP and TDP. Now people have hopes for Congress. This single issue covers the interests of the farmers and the youths. The BJP also talked about it but did nothing. We are also raising the issue of privatization of the Vizag steel plant,” he said.