Sharmila has declared that a political outfit will be launched in Hyderabad on 8 July.
New Delhi: In yet another political churning down the Vindyas, this time in the state of Telangana, Y.S. Sharmila, daughter of former Chief Minister of the then Andhra Pradesh Y.S. Rajashekar Reddy and sister of now carved out Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, will make her political debut, signaling breakaway from YSRCP which she was associated with till now.
Sharmila, along with her mother Vijayamma, had played a pivotal role in forming and holding together YSRCP when Jagan was lodged in jail in corruption cases being investigated by CBI in 2009. The mother-daughter duo had actively participated in the “Odurpu Yatra” that catapulted Jagan to become the CM in 2018.
Sharmila, who was till now in the shadows of her brother, has now come out in the open, declaring that a new political outfit with a different name, flag and symbol will be launched in Hyderabad on 8 July, her father’s birth anniversary.
What is intriguing is the fact that in the run-up to this development, Jagan has maintained a stoic silence and also distanced himself from his sister. While the siblings have thus far not made comments against each other, the simmering tension between them in the last year or so was an open secret.
There are several unanswered questions. What was the reason behind Sharmila going solo after a decade? Why Telangana, why not Andhra Pradesh? Did Jagan muffle Sharmila who was popular among people if not as much as Jagan? Has she been propped up by Jagan given the fact that the Opposition parties, including TDP, Congress and BJP, have been decimated in Telangana? How else would she be venturing in Telangana as it would require huge money and muscle power to sustain a three-year campaign as the next elections would be only in 2023?
Political observers say it is a bold political move by the family to bulldoze into the political space of Telangana which till now has been largely dominated by TRS’s first family.
The fact that Jagan shares political camaraderie with TRS supremo and Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao adds another dimension to a political potboiler in the making. Having said this, one is unsure as to how this relationship will sustain with the way things are panning out.
Some say that at the end of the second term, KCR will be battling huge anti incumbency coupled with charges of corruption and nepotism and that juncture Sharmila would have covered enough ground to leverage the legacy she carries.
On Thursday, she was forcibly pushed out by Hyderabad police during her protest at a park.
The protest at Indira Park was todemand KCR-led government to fill 1.91 lakh backlog jobs. The visuals went viral as regional channels lapped up the footage, as the story got a lot of traction.
Sharmila is continuing her hunger strike at Lotus Park and it appears that she is executing the script to perfection. In fact, when she was pulled around by the police, she has vouched that she will be the Chief Minister of Telangana one day, reminiscent of the famous Jayalalithaa’s roar in 1980s when she was pushed around in Tamil Nadu Assembly.
While Jayalalithaa did return to Assembly with a thumping majority and become the first woman Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, what’s in store for Sharmila and will she have any political fortunes in the days to come, would be very interesting to watch.