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Jagan’s mother quits YSRCP, to back daughter in Telangana
Widow of former chief minister of combined Andhra Pradesh YS Rajasekhar Reddy and mother of present chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, Y S Vijayalakshmi, popularly known as Vijayamma has remained a two-time lawmaker representing Pulivendula assembly constituency in Kadapa district.
YS Vijayalakshmi on Friday quit from the post of honorary president of ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) and from the party’s primary membership during the party’s two-day plenary that started in Guntur in the afternoon.
Widow of former chief minister of combined Andhra Pradesh YS Rajasekhar Reddy and mother of present chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, Y S Vijayalakshmi, popularly known as Vijayamma has remained a two-time lawmaker representing Pulivendula assembly constituency in Kadapa district.
Speaking the inaugural address at the YSRCP plenary, which is being held after a gap of five years, Vijayamma said that she had decided to quit the party as she had the responsibility to stand by her daughter, Y S Sharmila (Jagan’s sister), “who had been waging a lone battle in Telangana.”
She said Sharmila had launched her party in Telangana, only to avoid inconvenience to her brother Jagan in Andhra Pradesh. “She is fighting to establish a Rajanna Rajyam in Telangana, the welfare government of YSR. I have decided to stand by her in her fight,” she said.
Vijayamma clarified that it was not appropriate on her part to continue in two parties in two different states, as it will give scope for criticism from the political rivals and speculations of a family rift. “Hence, I have decided to resign from YSRCP. I hope the followers and fans of Y S Rajasekhar Reddy will appreciate my decision and forgive me for the same,” she said.
She, however, said she will always stand by her son and extend moral support to him. “My blessings will always be with Jagan,” she said, adding that she was placing her son’s future in the hands of the party leaders and cadre.
Following the death of her husband in a helicopter crash in September 2009, Vijayamma had contested the Lok Sabha elections from Visakhapatnam parliamentary constituency in 2014 but lost to Bharatiya Janata Party’s K Haribabu.
Since then, she has been keeping away from electoral politics but had been continuing as the honorary president of the YSRCP. However, since her daughter Y S Sharmila launched a new regional party — YSR Telangana Party — in Telangana in July 2021, Vijayamma has been supporting her.
She thanked all the followers of her husband for their support to her family right from the beginning. “YSR treated all his followers as his family. He is still alive in the hearts of the people. I came here to bless you and congratulate you for standing by my family and helping us to serve the people,” she said.
Stating that the YSRCP was born from the blessings of the people, Vijayamma said Jagan was marching ahead with the sole objective of developing the state on all fronts. “Success has not come to Jagan easily. He had to struggle a lot,” she said. Describing her son as a role model for the youth, Vijayamma said Jagan was a man of masses and hence, has been implementing welfare schemes for the poor people.
Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu said Jagan was known for his use-and-throw-attitude. “He used the services of his mother to gain sympathy from people and came to power. Now, he has dumped his own mother. He has virtually forced her to resign from the party. He used the same strategy in hounding out his sister Sharmila, who worked for the party before 2019,” Naidu said, addressing a road show in Nagari constituency in Chittoor district.
