With this move, YS Sharmila will enter the battle in Andhra Pradesh to take on her brother — YSRCP chief and CM YS Jagan.
Published Jan 15, 2024 | 6:11 PM ⚊ Updated Jan 15, 2024 | 6:11 PM
Rudra Raju with YS Sharmila during her induction in to the party on 4 January. (Supplied)
Andhra Pradesh Congress chief Gidugu Rudra Raju has resigned from his leadership position to make way for YS Sharmila.
Sharmila, the daughter of the late two-time chief minister of united Andhra Pradesh and Congress stalwart YS Rajasekhara Reddy, is also the sister of current Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and YSRCP head YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.
With this move, YS Sharmila will enter the political arena as a leader in Andhra Pradesh and take on her brother in the upcoming Assembly elections. An official confirmation is expected soon from Congress Bhavan, Vijayawada.
As reported by South First on 1 January, Sharmila was scheduled to be inducted into the grand old party on 4 January. She officially joined the party in Delhi in the presence of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, senior leader Rahul Gandhi, and other Andhra Pradesh unit leaders.
Gidugu Rudra Raju’s resignation is seen as a move to welcome YS Sharmila into the Andhra unit and he is likely to continue his services to the Andhra Pradesh Congress. Sharmila is expected to take charge immediately after her son’s formal engagement scheduled for 18 January.
Since the 2014 elections — held soon after the state was bifurcated, for which the people held the Congress responsible — the grand old party in Andhra Pradesh has witnessed poor performance, securing zero seats with 2.8 percent of votes in 2014 and a even lower 1.2 percent of votes in 2019, which was less than the number of votes polled for NOTA.
One of the major reasons that contributed to this poor performance was the migration of most leaders from the Congress to the YSRCP, founded by YS Jagan.
This migration occurred after he was denied the chief minister’s post and the sentiment against the bifurcation of the state also played a role, leading Congress leaders to join the regional party founded by their late leader’s son. Click here to read about the fallout between YSR family and the Congress.
In Jagan Mohan’s current Cabinet, 18 out of 25 ministers hail from a Congress background.
The Congress is now looking forward to YS Sharmila reviving its presence in Andhra Pradesh and reclaiming the YSR legacy that is currently being propagated by her brother YS Jagan.
Sharmila, who had campaigned for her brother’s party since its launch in 2011, had a fallout with him after he assumed power in 2019.
Subsequently, she formed the YSRTP and entered Telangana politics. However, she did not contest in the 30 November Telangana elections and, instead, extended support to the Congress.
