Sharmila eyeing key post in Congress and 15 assembly tickets
Hyderabad (IANS). YSR Telangana Party (YSRTP) chief Y.S. Sharmila, who met senior Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi on Thursday, is expecting a key post and 15 assembly tickets in return for merging with the Congress.
During the meeting with the Gandhi family, he discussed wide-ranging issues related to Telangana politics and put forward the expectations he had from the party leadership.
Congress leader and former Chief Minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh, late Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy (YSR)’s daughter Sharmila is said to be keen on getting the post of Congress general secretary.
Sharmila, who has already announced to contest the assembly elections from Palair constituency in Telangana’s Khammam district, wants the party to give tickets to its candidates for at least 15 constituencies.
“She will now wait for the response from the Congress high command and the modalities of the merger will be worked out based on further talks,” a YSRTP source told IANS.
The YSRTP leader had a detailed discussion with Rahul Gandhi on Telangana politics. Later Sonia Gandhi also joined him in the meeting. After the meeting, Sharmila told media persons that she discussed issues related to Telangana with her.
“As YSR’s daughter, I will continue to work tirelessly to serve the people of Telangana,” she said.
Sharmila also commented that the countdown for the KCR government has started.
However, he did not answer the question as to when the merger would happen.
Sharmila’s camp is seeing the meeting with top Congress leaders as a big achievement. “They had a very good conversation. The meeting was an ice breaker,” a leader told IANS on condition of anonymity.
Sharmila Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan is the sister of Mohan Reddy, who raised the flag of rebellion against the Gandhi family and formed the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) in 2010, a year after his father YSR died in a helicopter crash.
Jagan Mohan Reddy is survived by sister Sharmila and mother Y.S. Vijayamma was supported.
The mother-daughter duo also actively campaigned for the YSRCP in the 2019 elections in Andhra Pradesh. However, differences arose after YSRCP came to power with an overwhelming majority in the neighboring state.
While Jagan decided to confine himself to Andhra Pradesh politics, Sharmila entered Telangana politics by forming YSRTP in 2021.
Describing herself as the daughter-in-law of Telangana, Sharmila took out a statewide march promising to bring back ‘Rajanna Rajyam’ in Telangana. ‘Rajanna Rajyam’ refers to the period of YSR’s rule in undivided Andhra Pradesh between 2004 and 2009.
Popular leader YSR had launched many revolutionary welfare schemes for farmers and the poor. YSR died in a helicopter crash on 2 September 2009, a few months after leading the Congress to another victory.
A YSRTP leader said, “The Gandhi family has still not forgotten the role played by YSR in the party’s huge success in united Andhra Pradesh in 2004 and his contribution in the formation of the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre.”
Many Congress leaders in Telangana believe that as YSR’s daughter, Sharmila will prove to be an asset to the party.
Leaders working with YSR believe that if Sharmila does not join Congress and YSRTP fields its candidates, it could harm Congress’s prospects.
After the Congress’ victory in Karnataka, there was a growing feeling within the party’s Telangana unit that it should invite Sharmila to strengthen its prospects.
A section of leaders believe that even if YSRTP gets 2,000 to 5,000 votes in some constituencies, it could hurt Congress’ prospects.
Elections for the 119-member assembly are to be held in November-December this year. Sharmila’s Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. The merger discussion began after a few meetings with Shivakumar, with whom the YSR family has a close friendship.
Sharmila had visited Delhi on August 11 and met Congress General Secretary K.C. Had a conversation with Venugopal. Sharmila made it clear to the Congress that she was not interested in Andhra Pradesh politics and would confine herself to Telangana.
He had recently denied receiving any offer for Congress’ Rajya Sabha ticket from Karnataka.
She made it clear that she is committed to the cause of Telangana and will continue to fight for the people of the region.
Sharmila had said, “I have always been in Telangana and will remain in Telangana till my last breath. I request speculators to stop making paper plans about my future and instead focus on issues related to the people of my state Telangana.” Write about KCR’s misgovernance, his
