As Revanth meets Shivakumar in Bengaluru, Sharmila says YSRTP-Congress merger in final stages

While Sharmila is keen on staying put in Telangana’s political arena, the Congress sees her as more valuable in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.

Speaking to reporters after garlanding the statue of her father YS Rajasekhara Reddy on the occasion of his death anniversary, Sharmila said she approached the Congress for the merger of her party since it had a very high regard for him.

She said she held talks with Sonia Gandhi and Rahul on the strategies to be adopted to end Telangana Chief Minister and BRS chief K Chandrashekar Rao’s regime in Telangana.

“I have discussed with them how to dethrone him (KCR). I will let you know about my merger proposal after discussing it with my party workers,” she said.

She said he would ensure that all her supporters and workers got the respect and recognition that she got after the merger. “I want all Opposition parties to come together on an anti-KCR plank,” she said.

Revanth rushes to Shivakumar

YSR Telangana Party (YSRTP) president YS Sharmila had set the cat among the pigeons in the Telangana State Congress unit by calling on party’s matriarch Sonia Gandhi and former president Rahul Gandhi in Delhi on 31 August, two days ahead of her father YS Rajasekhar Reddy’s death anniversary.

A day after Sharmila had a breakfast meeting with Congress top brass, TPCC president A Revanth Reddy, who is opposed to her entry into Telangana Congress, rushed to Bengaluru and closeted himself with Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president DK Shivakumar on Friday, 1 September.

During the talk, Revanth is suspected to have brought up BRS leader and former minister Thummala Nageswara Rao’s interest in joining the Congress, provided the Palair Assembly seat is offered to him.

However, Sharmila, too, wants to contest from Palair. She has raised the demand for Palair, besides seeking a few seats for her supporters.

Revanth has left it to the party to decide on the candidate in Palair: Thummala who has a bright chance of winning the seat, or Sharmila who carries an Andhra-origin tag.

Related: Sharmila calls on Rahul, Sonia; YSRTP-Congress merger sealed?

Shivakumar favours Sharmila

Sources said Shivakumar has been in favour of Sharmila’s entry into the Telangana Congress. The party’s top brass, Sonia and Rahul, have always treated her father — the late YS Rajasekhara Reddy — with respect, though his son and current Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy cannot claim the same.

Ever since Sharmila fell out with her brother and moved to Telangana with her mother, the Congress has been keeping an eye on her activities.

The party believes she could be useful if she joined forces with it but wanted her to be in Andhra Pradesh rather than Telangana, as it is not ready to burn its fingers once again after its bitter experience with N Chandrababu Naidu in the past.

Shivakumar has a special bond with the YSR family. Sharmila had called on him before the Karnataka elections and even after he became the deputy chief minister. She sought his help to find an entry into the Congress at a respectable level.

She broached her proposal of the merger in return for allowing her to contest in Telangana, but Shivakumar initially told her to shift to Andhra Pradesh. He was against Sharmila operating in Telangana where people might look at her with suspicion because of her Andhra roots. But it appears, she has had her way.

Shivakumar is a good friend of Revanth as well, but he can bat only for either Revanth or Sharmila. Since the latter is his family friend and the top brass also has a soft corner for her, he decided to throw his weight behind her.

Related: Section of Congress sees ‘value’ in YS Sharmila — but in AP

Fear of alternative power centre

When Revanth called on him in Bengaluru, Shivakumar reportedly conveyed to him the party high command’s decision and asked him not to entertain any misgivings about Sharmila. He reportedly advised him to work as a team and help the party capture power in Telangana.

For TPCC president Revanth, Sharmila arrived on the scene like the proverbial black swan, upsetting his calculations, besides raising the threat of becoming an alternative power centre in the TPCC because of her access to the party’s central leadership. The central leadership finds value in her even in Telangana as she is the rightful heir to her father’s legacy.

Revanth tried to stall her entry in the beginning, when her ambitions were becoming clear. He raised the bogey of the return of the pre-2018 Assembly election political ambience. It was when KCR resurrected the zeitgeist of the Telangana movement as soon as the Congress struck an alliance with TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu.

The result was all too clear. The Congress-Chandrababu Naidu combine sank.

But it is said that it was only an excuse that Revanth had made up. Even the TRS has rebranded itself as BRS, which implies that Telangana sentiment is now a passe. The Telangana movement is only a blur now for most of the residents of the state.

Revanth’s apprehension that Sharmila might become an alternative power centre is not unfounded. Her father Rajasekhara Reddy is still much revered in Telangana.  and KCR is continuing some schemes like Arogyasri and fee reimbursement that he had brought in. Additionally, the anti-Revanth camp may find a saviour in her.