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Sharmila likely to merge YSR Telangana party with Congress
YS Sharmila, who had returned from New Delhi after meeting with top Congress leaders on Friday, held a meeting with senior leaders and supporters of her party in Hyderabad on Tuesday evening
The stage is set for the merger of the YSR Telangana Party, floated by Y S Sharmila, sister of Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, with the Congress soon, people familiar with the matter said.
Sharmila, who had returned from New Delhi after meeting with top Congress leaders including party general secretary K C Venugopal on Friday, held a meeting with senior leaders of the YSRTP and her followers at her residence in Hyderabad on Tuesday evening.
A party functionary privy to the development said Sharmila indicated to her party leaders that she would be taking an important decision with regard to the party very soon. “Whatever may be the platform I would be working on, my whole objective is to bring in the welfare state envisaged by my father late Y S Rajasekhar Reddy,” she told them, as quoted by the YSRTP functionary.
She said the whole objective of her decision was only to bring down the dictatorial regime of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and that she did not have any other selfish political interest, according to the person cited above.
Sharmila assured that she would ensure justice to all the leaders who joined hands with her in her struggle and there was no need for them to worry about their political career, the person added.
The YSRTP functionary said the Congress high command had initially asked her to take over the Pradesh Congress Committee in Andhra Pradesh and rejuvenate the party there. “Even the Telangana Congress leadership was apprehensive that if Sharmila joins the party and contests in Telangana, it might affect the prospects of the party in the coming elections, as she originally hails from Andhra Pradesh,” he said.
However, Sharmila categorically told the Congress high command that she had no interest whatsoever in Andhra Pradesh, where the party has little presence. “After a few rounds of negotiations, the high command finally agreed to her request for confining herself to only Telangana politics,” the YSRTP functionary said, adding that even Congress state president Revanth Reddy was told to accept her conditions.
During the discussions with Venugopal in New Delhi, Sharmila asked for party tickets for eight assembly seats to her and her followers in the upcoming assembly elections in Telangana. “But the high command offered three seats to her and her associates. She is still bargaining for a few more seats,” the person said.
The merger of the YSRTP with the Congress was initially planned for August 20, coinciding with the birth anniversary of late Rajiv Gandhi, but going by the developments, it might get delayed by a few days, the functionary added.
Senior Congress leader and Bhongir member of Parliament (MP) Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, who was in Delhi during Sharmila’s meeting with Venugopal, welcomed her into the party. “There is nothing wrong if Sharmila wants to join the Telangana Congress. She will definitely be a plus point for the party,” he said.
When reporters asked Sharmila about the outcome of her Delhi visit on her return last Friday, she said she would reveal everything at an appropriate time. She, however, thanked Venkat Reddy for inviting her into the Congress.
For quite some time, Sharmila has been dropping hints that she would be cosying up with the Congress ahead of the Assembly elections in Telangana. On June 19, Sharmila extended greetings to Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on his birthday, wishing him success in “inspiring people with patience and serving them through sincere efforts.”
On July 8, Sharmila thanked Rahul Gandhi for paying tributes to her father Rajasekhar Reddy on the latter’s birth anniversary. On August 8, she greeted Rahul Gandhi once again for being reinstated as the Lok Sabha member, following a Supreme Court order.
