For a politician with a glorious lineage, Y.S. Sharmila, and master political strategist Prashant Kishor, Andhra’s coast is not clear, yet they are proceeding to be part of an intense electoral battle. Elections for 175 Assembly seats will be held in a few months, and new names are getting added to the long list of interesting personalities that will be in the thick of action. After weeks of parleys and speculations, the decks are finally cleared for the YSRT Party, founded by Y.S. Sharmila, to merge with the Congress.
The exercise to bring Sharmila back into the fold of her late father Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy’s party began before the Telangana elections. However, it hit a roadblock as a section of Telangana Congress leaders opposed her entry into Telangana, citing her roots in the Rayalaseema region of Andhra Pradesh, anticipating a negative impact on the outcome of polls. Sharmila, too, wasn’t willing to take on her brother, CM Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, in AP, as per the wishes of the high command.
Post-Congress victory in Telangana, Sharmila, who maintained a low profile during the polls by opting out of it, has burst onto the scene again. She held a meeting with her party leaders where she made it clear that she would merge her party with the Congress. According to sources within the Congress, Sharmila would be formally inducted into the party on Thursday, January 4 and would be offered a key role.
“There are many options in front of her. She can be made the AP Congress President, star campaigner for upcoming MP elections or an important post in AICC or CWC. She can also accept a Rajya Sabha seat,” said a source close to her.
It has been learned that Sharmila was willing to join Congress unconditionally and has accepted to play a key role in AP to leverage her father’s image to revive the party, which is on its deathbed in the state, with no representation in either the Assembly or the Parliament. The task is cut out for Sharmila. She is expected to position herself strongly as a true successor to her father YSR and attempt to occupy the space of her brother Y.S. Jagan. She is also expected to nosedive into the elections and try to orchestrate defections in her brother’s party, YSRCP.
For some time now, YSRCP President Y.S. Jagan has made it clear to his sitting MLAs that some of them might not get the tickets due to anti-incumbency against them. This is where the Congress sees an opportunity. It expects many of the disgruntled legislators who are denied tickets to join Congress. The immediate aim of Congress is to improve vote share and strengthen the party with the induction of strong leaders and once again establish an emotional connection with the voters who are yet to forgive the party for bifurcating the state.
The election season has also seen Prashant Kishor descend in Andhra. A few days back, he held discussions with Telugu Desam Party’s N. Chandrababu Naidu and his son, Lokesh, ahead of elections. This will perhaps be the first time when Prashant Kishor and IPAC are on the opposite side of the fence. While IPAC continues to be the official consultants of YSRCP, Prashant seems to be drifting towards TDP to take up an unofficial role in guiding the TDP in the upcoming elections. According to sources, some of the senior leadership of IPAC and Prashant Kishor have not been on cordial terms for some time now. This has indeed raised questions if the upcoming elections will be the venue to settle scores between TDP and YSRCP or Prashant Kishor and his former vehicle, the IPAC.
