We will be vocal about failures of YSRCP in AP, says new Congress chief Y.S. Sharmila

The newly-appointed president Y.S. Sharmila sounds confident and determined for a head-on confrontation with her political opponents.

Ahead of taking over the reins of the Congress party in Andhra Pradesh on January 21 (Sunday), the newly-appointed president Y.S. Sharmila sounds confident and determined for a head-on confrontation with her political opponents. Tasked with putting the battered Congress in Andhra Pradesh back on the rails, she is bracing for a fresh innings of her political career in 2024.

Senior Congress leaders agree that the task is not easy but they feel that the right attitude, mindset and wisdom of the late AP Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy’s firebrand daughter will make a difference in favour of the party.

“It is a great responsibility and I’ll give my best to the party. I understand the growing need to strengthen the Congress, which is the largest secular party in the country,” she said, in a phone conversation with The Hindu. “Because if a non-secular party is voted to power at the Centre, we may have to witness a repeat of the ‘Manipur-like’ violence,” she warned.

The Congress victory in Karnataka and Telangana has come as a morale-booster for the party leaders and cadres in Andhra Pradesh. The party seniors see Ms. Sharmila’s entry as a catalyst for Congress revival in the State.

For Ms. Sharmila, the short time left for elections is the biggest challenge. Moreover, the Congress party scored nil seats in AP in the last two consecutive polls, owing to public anger over bifurcation of the State into Andhra and Telangana. “In the last elections, the Congress got less than 2% of the vote share. We need to work really hard,” she admitted, citing the TDP-Jana Sena Party alliance and their plan to combine the BJP ultimately. “Though they did not say it, but it is obvious,” she said.

She is aware of the fact that she will be directly pitted against her brother and the incumbent Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, but Ms. Sharmila is clear about her political agenda. “Congress will take a very firm stand against the YSR Congress Party in the State. We will be vocal about the failures of the incumbent government,” she said.

Ms. Sharmila is not perturbed about questions likely to be asked about the battle of supremacy between her and her brother Jagan Mohan Reddy as a result of a family feud. “I don’t see it as a hindrance because there is nothing personal about it. We see members of a same family taking to different professions by choice. This is also similar to that,” she averred.