Amaravati, (Samajweekly) Andhra Pradesh government’s public affairs adviser Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy on Tuesday said Y.S. Sharmila, younger sister of Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, is on her own in Telangana political endeavours or experiments.
He addressed the media after Sharmila’s meeting at her Lotus Pond home in Hyderabad’s Jubilee Hills where she had met the former united AP Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhar Reddy’s fans and supporters.
He said Jagan Mohan Reddy was not supportive of this decision and outlined that it was purely Sharmila’s choice.
“We told Sharmila not to go ahead with the party. We explained her the pros and cons,” said Reddy.
However, he said it is Sharmila’s decision to go ahead and clarified that there are no personal differences between her and her brother.
“Jagan is doing his work in Andhra Pradesh and I will committedly work for Telangana,” said Sharmila.
According to the adviser, negotiations on floating a party in Telangana did happen for some months and denying that would amount to bluffing.
Sharmila said Jagan Mohan Reddy was older than her and asserted that she would always have his blessings as a brother.
Gone Prakash Rao, a senior Telangana politician highlighted that Sharmila was against the bifurcation of united AP and now with what face she will tour Telangana, as she plans to do a marathon walkathon.
During tougher times when Jagan Mohan Reddy was imprisoned by the Congress government during Sonia Gandhi’s reign, Sharmila and her mother Y. S. Vijayamma played a pivotal role in picking up the cudgels for Jagan.
They did the padayatra on behalf of YSRCP party and Jagan to engage with people and stay in touch with them to keep their political prospects alive.
However, the bigger question now is the availability of space in the Telangana political spectrum. Is there room for Sharmaila to carry her father’s legacy to reap political dividends?
Both the Telugu states still have legions of Y. S. Rajasekhar Reddy admirers, who left an indelible mark with his welfare-centric government more than 12 years ago.
