YS Vijayamma appears to have put her foot firmly down on her daughter's proposal to align with Congress — whether in AP or Telangana.
YSRTP chief YS Sharmila's plans to align with the Congress seemsa to have run into opposition from her mother. (Twitter)
YS Vijayamma appears to have thrown a spanner in the political ambitions of her daughter and YSR Telangana Party (YSRTP) chief YS Sharmila to align with Congress.
She is understood to have put her foot firmly down on her daughter’s proposal to align with Congress, regardless of which state — whether Andhra Pradesh or Telangana.
Several news reports speculated that Congress matriarch Sonia Gandhi would fly down to Idupulapaya in Kadapa district in Andhra Pradesh on 8 July, the birth anniversary of the late YS Rajasekhar Reddy, where she would ask Sharmila to merge her party with the Congress and take leadership in Andhra Pradesh — in return for a Rajya Sabha seat from Karnataka next year,
However, South First has learnt that neither Sonia Gandhi nor any top Congress leader is likely to fly down to Idupulapaya.
“The Idupulapaya estate is the personal property of (Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Sharmila’s brother) YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, who hates the Congress. Sonia’s visit to Idupulapaya is nothing but wild speculation,” one YSRTP leader said on condition of anonymity.
In addition, YS Sharmila too broke her silence on Friday and denied speculations of her shifting focus to Andhra Pradesh under Congress. South First had previously reported on how Congress sees value in Sharmila but in Andhra Pradesh and not Telangana.
Like her son, Vijayamma, too, has no great affection for the Congress. She blames the party for the travails that her family had to go through even though her husband — the late chief minister of united Andhra Pradesh, YS Rajasekhara Reddy — had single-handedly brought the Congress to power twice — in 2004 and 2009.
Sources said that Vijayamma is not in the mood to forgive the Congress for “conniving” in sending her son YS Jagan Mohan to prison.
Vijayamma’s opposition to the Congress is understood to have had the effect of a douche of cold water on Sharmila, who, over the last two years, has been trying to connect with the people of Telangana, though unsuccessfully, by laying claim to her late father’s legacy.
Sharmila’s tweet on Friday, 23 June, more or less was indicative of Vijayamma’s opposition to her doing any political business with the Congress.
She said her destiny is linked with the people of Telangana and advised “them” (those who are spreading rumours) not to distance her from them. Her statement implied that the Congress’ proposal to her to work in Andhra Pradesh was not acceptable to her.
వైఎస్ షర్మిల రెడ్డి తన చివరి శ్వాస వరకు తెలంగాణ బిడ్డగా, తెలంగాణ కొరకు పోరాడుతూనే ఉంటది. ఊహాజనిత కథలు కల్పిస్తూ, నాకు, తెలంగాణ ప్రజలమధ్య అగాధాన్ని సృష్టించే విఫల యత్నాలు జరుగుతున్నాయి. పనిలేని,పసలేని దార్శనికులకు నేను చెప్పేది ఒకటే. నా రాజకీయ భవిత మీద పెట్టె దృష్టిని, సమయాన్ని…
— YS Sharmila (@realyssharmila) June 23, 2023
“Vijayamma is dead against Sharmila joining hands with the Congress, either in Telangana or in Andhra. Though Sharmila may entertain some ideas about an alliance with Telangana Congress, it may not happen as the party is opposed to her entry — or an alliance with her party — as it might affect its prospects which have become bright after the resounding victory in Karnataka,” another senior YSRTP leader said on condition of anonymity.
Telangana leaders, since the beginning, were against her joining or striking an alliance with the YSRTP because she is an “outsider” to Telangana and also on account of her father’s strong anti-Telangana credentials.
“Though there might be YS Rajasekhar Reddy’s admirers in Telangana, there is no guarantee that they would support her at the hustings because of the sharp division that the Telangana movement (for a separate state) had brought between the populations of the two states,” the YSRTP leader told South First.
One source in the YSRTP said that after the Congress won Assembly elections in Karnataka, Sharmila visited Bengaluru twice and conferred with Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar where she reportedly asked him to intercede with the party high command for leadership of Telangana Congress in return for merger of her party.
But Shivakumar reportedly asked her to merge her party in the Congress and move to Andhra Pradesh as Telangana has no political space for her.
However, Sharmila knows that the Congress in Andhra Pradesh is a dead horse and it would not come to life, regardless of how furiously she flogs it, and that was why she was not interested in the proposal.
In Andhra Pradesh, she would have to compete for the legacy of her late father with her brother, who is now sitting pretty on its crest.
Meanwhile, Telangana Congress president A Revanth Reddy has made no secret of his opposition to Sharmila working in the state as a party leader, in whichever capacity it might be.
According to top sources, Revanth Reddy, to clear the air over what the party high command had thought about Sharmila, brought up her issue with party senior leader Rahul Gandhi in the US when he met him there recently and obtained an assurance that there was no question of taking her into the Telangana Congress.
Revanth Reddy had said that since she is from Andhra Pradesh, her presence in Telangana would harm the party prospects more than help them.
His argument sounds reasonable as the Telangana Congress does not want to have anything to do with Andhra-origin leaders.
Party leaders remember how they had burnt their fingers by aligning with the TDP and N Chandrababu Naidu in the 2018 elections, which only helped Telangana Chief Minister and BRS supremo K Chandrashekar Rao win the election for the second time.
Even the Telangana Congress in-charge Manikrao Thakre was cautious while reacting to reports of the induction of Sharmila into the party in an informal interaction with media persons.
He only said that Congress was in touch with Sharmila, but did not elaborate on which state he saw her playing a role. He appeared using her name to drive home the point that several important leaders were contemplating joining the Congress.
When contacted, Andhra Pradesh state Congress president G Rudra Raju said that he had no official communication on either Sharmila joining the Congress or Sonia’s visit to Idupulapaya.
“I have no official confirmation, as yet,” he told South First, but said Congress leaders are happy at the turn of events.
Concurring on this, Kolanukodna Sivaij, AICC member from Andhra Pradesh told South First: “We will welcome it if Sharmila joins Andhra Pradesh Congress. We need someone from the YS family to take on Jagan Mohan Reddy. The late YSR used to say that his only aim in life was to see Rahul Gandhi as prime minister. It would be appropriate if the party gives the YSR family the respect it deserves.”
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