Jagan’s sister Sharmila set to join Congress amid new battle lines drawn for AP polls

Sharmila, daughter of former Andhra Pradesh CM late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy (YSR), has now decided to take the plunge after talks between her and former YSRCP MP Y V Subba Reddy, her uncle, failed. Sources said Jagan had sent Subba Reddy as his emissary to convince Sharmila to join the YSRCP as he felt his influence and image across the state would be affected if his sister joins the fray in the state.

“She (Sharmila) outright refused to join the YSRCP in the meetings which were held on December 31 and January 1,” a source privy to the information said.

The brother-sister duo parted ways, politically, in July 2021 after Sharmila floated her outfit in Telangana. Both the YSRCP and the YSRTP were formed with the avowed objective to take forward YSR’s legacy and bring back “Rajanna Rajyam” (YSR’s governance).

The YSRTP chief’s entry is likely to set up the possibility of a brother-sister duel in the upcoming simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in the state, which might have a bearing on future prospects of Jagan – and that of the Congress, which has been decimated in the state since its bifurcation in 2014.

Sources close to the YSR family say that Jagan and Sharmila have not seen eye-to-eye on many issues following their father’s death in 2009. After his fallout with the Congress leading to the formation of the YSRCP in 2011, Jagan handled the affairs of the party across Andhra Pradesh while his sister was its national convener.

“Sharmila has been longing for political space and felt many times that Jagan has hijacked the YSR legacy. Her mother’s unwavering support to Jagan during the formative years of the YSRCP also troubled her,” the source said, adding that apart from the political tug-of-war, there have been other problems, reportedly involving finances, which have plagued their relationship.

A year younger than 51-year-old Jagan, Sharmila is married to Brother Anil Kumar, who is known for his evangelical preaching in Andhra Pradesh. Kumar had taken a break from his preaching activities after YSR’s death and resumed it in 2010. He also courted controversy when he met noted filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma during the filming of an anti-TDP movie.

After her stint as the YSRCP’s national convener, where she never contested elections, Sharmila launched the YSRTP in Telangana with her mother YS Vijayamma by her side. She took on the K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR)-led BRS government on various issues for which she was detained by the Telangana police several times.

However, she failed to capture the voters’ imagination in Telangana, parts of which have a strong connection to her father, like her brother managed to in Andhra Pradesh. She recently also courted controversy after assaulting a policeman on duty. Her plans to merge her party with the Congress ahead of the Telangana polls hit a roadblock after state leaders objected to it there.

Sharmila as Cong’s AP face?

Sources remained tight-lipped on her role in the Congress but said she could be made an AICC (All India Congress Committee) general secretary or even given a Rajya Sabha nomination from Karnataka. “Sharmila would meet the top Congress leadership in New Delhi on January 4 and then join the party,” the source said.

Andhra Pradesh Congress chief Gidugu Rudraraju has already welcomed her entry into the party, saying all those who subscribe to the party’s ideology are welcome to join it.

Andhra Pradesh Congress leaders are upbeat over the news. “Sharmilamma’s joining the Congress will hugely boost our chances. We need leaders of her stature in the party to revive it in the state,” a party leader said on condition of anonymity.

Would other leaders follow suit?

Before her trip to Delhi on Wednesday, Sharmila will spend Tuesday at Idupulapaya (the site where YSR is buried). Sources said many YSRCP leaders are waiting for her arrival on the state scene and are likely to extend their support to her.

“Like RK (former Mangalagiri MLA who resigned from the YSRCP recently), many more YSRCP leaders want to meet Sharmila and may extend support to her and join the Congress, thus strengthening it,” a YSRCP leader said.

Impact on AP politics

Although Sharmila has not contested any elections so far, she has played an important role in expanding the YSRCP during its initial years as its national convener. “Her vast experience of state politics will also be an advantage,” a Congress leader said.

A section of Congress leaders wants the party to ally with Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP) for the upcoming polls. “An alliance with the TDP with Sharmilamma on our side will mean the end of the road for Jagan. However, the TDP is already allied with the Jana Sena Party (of Pawan Kalyan) and seems inclined towards the BJP. It is a tough task to ally with them, but an ideal one,” said a Congress leader from Eluru.

In the 2019 polls, the TDP garnered 39% of the votes and was reduced to a mere 23 seats in the 175-member Assembly while Jagan’s party won 151 seats.

The TDP and the Congress have contested elections together previously. In the 2018 Telangana polls, the TDP allied with the Congress as a part of the “Mahakutami” (grand alliance), which failed to make any impact as the BRS (then called TRS) swept the state.