On February 9, the politically savvy YS Sharmila, sister of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy, called for a meeting of supporters from Nalgonda district in Hyderabad to assess the ‘ground situation’, and later spoke of the need to usher in Rajanna Rajyam (the rule of her late father and former Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy) in Telangana.
It was a move that no one knew what to make of. That Sharmila is considering starting a political party in Telangana was the consensus opinion, but one that made little sense even to seasoned observers of politics in the two states.
The YSR Congress Party, formed by Jagan Reddy in 2011 after he left from the Congress, had vehemently opposed the bifurcation of the Andhra Pradesh and the creation of Telangana, so why would the sister of the party boss start a new party and that too in the very state they did not want formed in the first place?
Conspiracy theorists are having a field day. From the family rift theory to the view that this is a ploy to help the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) by splitting the anti-TRS vote, to the converse where some say that this may be a move to damage the TRS — each one has an explanation. What is clear is that no one knows for sure.
The fact that senior leaders of Jagan Reddy’s YSRCP came out to distance the party from Sharmila's move saying that Jagan Reddy did not want to expand the YSRCP to Telangana did hint at a discord between brother and sister; but the fact that the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister is yet to say a word on this publicly has ensured that the pot is kept boiling.
That Sharmila nursed political ambitions was never a secret. From organising a yatra when Jagan Reddy was in prison to becoming a star campaigner for the YSRCP, she was also consciously building her profile. So much so that political opponents felt that it was necessary to target her. Her personal life was written about as was her husband Anil Kumar's evangelism, with allegations that he was indulging in religious conversion with the support of the government.
After the 2019 Assembly elections that swept Jagan Reddy to power, Sharmila fell silent. Hardly being seen with her brother since he took office, the rumour mills started to churn. From being spoken of as a possible minister or a Rajya Sabha MP, Sharmila disappeared from the political headlines; until now. The banners and posters for Sharmila's meeting attracted a lot of attention as they did not feature her brother’s image. This lead to even more speculation about a rift, at least politically, between the siblings.
While Sharmila has not committed herself to starting a political party, saying she wanted to travel the state and get more inputs, there are already names being floated for the outfit. YSR Telangana Party (YSRTP) as of now appears to be the favourite.
There is also a view that this move by Sharmila is only to put pressure on her brother to recognise her contribution for his success, and reward her politically.
Meanwhile, all major parties in Telangana accuse each other of propping up Sharmila to split their votes. The Congress accuses the TRS of using Sharmila to split the Reddy community votes (YSRCP’s vote bank) that still go to the Congress in sizable numbers. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) feels that TRS chief and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao may be propping her up to split the anti-TRS votes.
Interestingly, the social media wing of the TRS initially came out all guns blazing with memes and caustic remarks asking Sharmila to sort out her issues in Andhra Pradesh and not in Telangana. After reportedly getting a diktat from the party high command not to attack her, they removed these posts, and added more suspense to the plot.
At the moment no one seems to know what to make of YS Sharmila’s announcement. Politically, the YSRCP had very little base left in Telangana after Jagan Reddy decided to steer clear and focus on Andhra Pradesh. If Sharmila is not going to have the blessings of her brother, then even that limited voter base is not going to be of use.
How does she build a party from scratch then? She knows only too well the odds against her. So why is she posturing? What is her real game then? Hopefully it will be clear in a few months. Until then observers of politics and indeed the people of both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana will continue to try and make sense of what is, for now at least, an indecipherable political move.
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