Telangana: Sharmila’s party opts out of polls, to back Congress

Sharmila said with more and more revelations on corruption and misrule coming out, there was a dire need for all like-minded parties to put up a joint effort in the best interest of Telangana people

YSR Telangana Party president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy’s sister Y S Sharmila on Friday announced that her party would not contest the assembly elections in Telangana but would extend support to the Congress.

Y S Sharmila said she had decided to opt out of the race in the Telangana assembly elections to ensure the pro-Congress vote would not split, as several surveys had pointed out that the grand old party had all the chances to come to power. (PTI)

The nomination process for the assembly elections in the state began on Friday with the formal issuance of gazette notification by the Election Commission of India.

The last date for filing of nominations in all the 119 constituencies is November 10. Scrutiny of nominations will be done on 13th and candidates can withdraw their name by November 15. The polling will be held on November 30 and the results would be declared on December 3.

Speaking to reporters at her Lotus Pond residence after discussing with her party colleagues, Sharmila said she had decided to opt out of the race in the Telangana assembly elections to ensure the pro-Congress vote would not split, as several surveys had pointed out that the grand old party had all the chances to come to power.

“As you know, Telangana stands at a crucial juncture with elections to the state assembly scheduled on November 30. People of Telangana are vexed under the misrule of Bharat Rashtra Samithi led by chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rai (KCR), and are all eager to topple his draconian and corrupt regime,” she said.

Sharmila said with more and more revelations on corruption and misrule seeing the light of the day, there was a dire need for all like-minded parties to put up a joint effort in the best interest of the people of Telangana.

“To support this cause, the YSRTP has taken a very important decision. In scripting the imminent defeat of BRS, it is felt that the Congress party stands a chance, and any division of anti-incumbency votes at this stage will be a hurdle in dethroning KCR,” she said.

The YSRTP president said many surveys and ground reports indicated that if her party contested the elections, it would directly impact the vote share of the Congress in many constituencies. “Therefore, YSR Telangana Party has decided to make the sacrifice of not contesting in the Telangana assembly elections. I have taking this all-important decision to step back in the larger interest of the state and to ensure the bigger cause of people is addressed,” she said.

Since May, Sharmila had held several rounds of meetings with the Congress top leaders including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and proposed to merge her party with the grand old party. In return, she expressed her interest in contesting the assembly elections from Palair in Khammam district, besides seeking party tickets to a few of her followers.

However, a YSRTP functionary familiar with the development said the Congress high command had requested her to drop her plans to contest in the Telangana elections but go to Andhra Pradesh to head the party. She, however, rejected the proposal.

With no positive response forthcoming from the Congress high command till October first week, Sharmila announced on October 10 that her party would go it alone in the Telangana elections and field candidates in all the 119 constituencies.

She also declared that she would contest from Palair assembly constituency and if necessary, from a second constituency in northern Telangana. The Election Commission of India even allotted “binoculars” as the election symbol for her party.

But even as the other mainstream parties were releasing the lists of candidates, there has been no such move from the YSRTP till date. Against this backdrop, Sharmila announced her party’s decision not to contest the elections again.

Reacting strongly to Sharmila’s statement, senior BRS leader and state finance minister T Harish Rao said the development clearly indicated that all the anti-Telangana forces were coming together to oppose KCR who had brought Telangana.

“The people of Telangana have not forgotten the statement of Sharmila’s father Y S Rajasekhar Reddy that Telangana was not a cigarette or beedi to be given just like that. Even Sharmila strongly opposed Telangana when she was in her brother’s party. Now, she is joining hands with the Congress to defeat the BRS,” he criticised.

YSRTP is the second political party to drop out from the Telangana polls, the first being Telugu Desam Party, which said it was not in a position to fight the elections in Telangana, as it was facing a turbulent situation in Andhra following the arrest of party president N Chandrababu Naidu.

Resenting the decision of Naidu, TDP’s Telangana unit president Kasani Gyaneshwar resigned from the party on Wednesday and joined the BRS on Friday.

While the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi has released the list of candidates for almost all the constituencies except Nampally and Goshamahal in Hyderabad, the Congress is yet to finalise candidates for 19 assembly seats, while the Bharatiya Janata Party has do select candidates for 31 constituencies.