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Telangana: Prashant Kishor to help Jagan’s sister Sharmila chart political roadmap
Sharmila announced that she had entered into an agreement with Prashant Kishor, the founder of Indian Political Action Committee (IPAC), for working out strategies for her political party
Hyderabad
Y S Sharmila, president of YSR Telangana Party, a newly-founded regional outfit in Telangana, has engaged the services of political strategist Prashant Kishor to work out a long-term road map for her party for the next assembly elections in the state scheduled to be held in 2023.
Kishor had earlier been hired by her brother and YSR Congress party president Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy and had played a major role in bringing the party to victory in the 2019 assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh.
The strategist also played a major role in the formation of governments in Bihar, Punjab, West Bengal and more recently Tamil Nadu.
In an interview to a Telugu television channel telecast on Sunday, Sharmila announced that she had entered into an agreement with Kishor, the founder of Indian Political Action Committee (IPAC), for working out strategies for her political party for the next assembly elections in Telangana.
Sharmila, in fact, had been in consultations with Kishor much before she announced the launch of her political party in July 8 this year. Initially, Kishor’s close aide Priya Rajendran, daughter of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MLA R Rajendran, helped Sharmila in the launch of the party and her social media campaign.
“Priya was of great help in working out strategies for the party. It has only been in the last few days that Kishor’s team has started working for the party,” a YSRTP leader familiar with the development said.
On Wednesday, a team of Kishor’s IPAC held lengthy discussions with Sharmila at her Lotus Pond office in Hyderabad to finalise the blueprint for her proposed padayatra (foot march) across the length and breadth of the state, starting October 20.
The team, which will continue to hold a series of meetings with Sharmila in the next few days, will also come out with suggestions to strengthen the party, expand the party network from grassroots level and prepare the party philosophy. “The team will set up its office at Lotus Pond premises itself,” the party leader said.
Sharmila, who named her proposed padayatra as “Praja Prasthanam” (People’s journey), is planning to cover 90 out of the 119 assembly constituencies in Telangana over a period of one year.
Sharmila chose to kickstart her padayatra from Chevella assembly constituency in Ranga Reddy district, the same place from where her father Y S Rajasekhar Reddy began his padayatra in 2003 and brought the Congress to power in 2004 assembly elections in combined Andhra Pradesh.
Sharmila is planning to walk for 12-15 km a day and hopes to complete her walkathon in a year. During her journey, she wants to understand the people’s problems personally and highlight what they had lost in the seven years of Telangana Rashtra Samithi government.
