Sister’s Second Act: Y S Sharmila joins Congress in Andhra battle against Jagan

“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.

Watch: Eminent personalities join the Indian National Congress at the AICC HQ, New Delhi. https://t.co/TUYFRo4ekU

— Congress (@INCIndia) January 4, 2024

Sharmila said it gave her immense joy in merging her party – YSRTP – with the Congress. “It gives me immense joy that the YSR Telangana party is going to be a part of the Indian National Congress from today onwards. It was my father’s dream to see Rahul as PM and I will work towards it,” she said after joining the Congress.

“The Congress has always upheld the true culture of India. It has built our nation’s foundation. It has unwaveringly served all communities, uniting all sections of the people of India,” she said.

She also lauded Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra saying it had infused confidence in people and helped the party win the Karnataka Assembly polls.

After her stint as the convener of the Jagan-led YSRCP, Sharmila parted ways with her brother and floated the YSRTP in Telangana avowed objective to take forward YSR’s legacy and bring back “Rajanna Rajyam” (YSR’s governance) in the state. During the launch, she had said she always belonged to Telangana, unlike her brother who has a foundation in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.

YSRTP’s inception did not surprise many as the brother-sister duo are believed not to see eye-to-eye on many issues following their father YSR’s death in 2009. “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,” a source close to the family 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. The couple have two children. Sharmila on Wednesday met Jagan to “invite him for her son’s wedding”.

As YSRTP chief, 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. She recently also courted controversy after assaulting a policeman on duty.

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.

Buzz around Sharmila’s proximity to the Congress emerged after she held a meeting with Karnataka deputy CM DK Shivakumar just after the state elections to congratulate him on the party’s win. Incidentally, Shivakumar was a key campaigner for the Congress in the Telangana polls.

Just ahead of the Assembly elections in Telangana, she made her intention clear to merge the party with the Congress. However, her move did not materialise as state Congress leaders opposed her entry. After the talks failed, a furious Sharmila announced that her party would contest all 119 seats in the state but later retracted.

She expressed happiness that she had contributed to the Congress’s victory in the Telangana elections. “I also realised that is going to have a domino effect in Telangana and, therefore, I graciously withheld from contesting in Telangana. Congress stood a chance of victory in Telangana and we did not want to break the anti-KCR vote. The Congress won in Telangana and I am most happy that we contributed a part to that victory,” she said.

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.

“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.

Sources said the Congress has offered Sharmila a Rajya Sabha berth, which is not too keen on taking. In a closed-door meeting with YSRTP leaders on Tuesday, she announced a decision on the same will be taken on January 8. The Congress, according to sources, has also offered her the post of media incharge of southern states and may fight the simultaneous elections in Andhra Pradesh with Sharmila as its face.

She also raised the issue of ethnic violence in Manipur and said, “As a Christian it pained me that such cruelty took place in Manipur. That kind of cruelty is something that I have not been able to digest even to this day. That struck me that this is what will happen if a secular party is not in power.”