Congress rewards YSR family, splits brother-sister: YS Sharmila appointed APCC president

AMARAVATHI: A few days after joining the Congress party, YS Sharmila, daughter of the late Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy has been rewarded with the position of President of the Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC).

The Congress party, which had turned hostile to the YSR family soon after his demise, has finally budged and begun course correction by honouring the family of the late leader.

Also Read: YS Sharmila to join Congress on January 4, may become APCC chief

It may be recalled that Sharmila had campaigned aggressively for her brother Y S Jaganmohan Reddy and launched a padayatra when he was incarcerated in disproportionate assets cases.

She had claimed that she was the “arrow shot by Jagananna”.However, after being unable to play a significant role in Andhra Pradesh politics after YS Jagan came to power, she launched the YSRTP in the neighbouring Telangana State in 2021 to create some political space riding on the popularity of her father YSR.

Despite her best efforts including a walkathon, her party was going nowhere with finances drying up and was getting little support from the stakeholders. As Telangana elections approached, the Congress convinced her to stay away from elections and promised a good future in Andhra Pradesh.

Earlier this month, Sharmila joined the Congress, merging her YSR Telangana Party. Days later, the Congress nominated her as the president of the party' Andhra Pradesh unit.

Sharmila thanked Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi among others for trusting her with post and promised to work faithfully towards rebuilding the party in the State.