Mixed Reactions To Sharmila's Plans For New Party

Y S Sharmila, daughter of former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister late Y S Rajasekhar Reddy and sister of incumbent CM Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, today hinted at the fact that she would soon be launching her own party in Telangana.

The announcement elicited a rather mixed set of responses from the political leaders in the state.

While TRS leader and minister Gangula Kamalakar simply said that there was no need for "outsiders" to launch parties in the state, Congress MP A Revanth Reddy said that Sharmila's entry into Telangana's political arena was comparable to an arrow being shot by Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao into it, and claimed that the entry had been planned solely to damage the prospects of the Congress.

Lashing out at the leader, Revanth Reddy said that while YSR was a well-loved figure in every corner of Telangana, the new state had been formed to be ruled by and for the "sons of the soil", and not so that the children of the former CM could rule it.

He also demanded that Sharmila spell out her stand on the Krishna river issue - the sharing of its waters is a major bone of contention between the two Telugu-speaking states.

Another senior Congress leader Mohammed Ali Shabbir said that India was a democracy and therefore anybody had the freedom to form a political party.

"We live in a democracy. Anybody can float a political party in the state. However, it is up to the people of Telangana to choose to either support or reject any party," he said.

Shabbir Ali also expressed his fondness for YSR, and said that the former CM's passing had indeed been a huge loss to the undivided state of Andhra Pradesh. However, he made clear his belief that the "real successors" of the former CM were the workers and leaders of the Congress, and not his family.

Telangana's BJP leaders also had much to say on the matter.

BJP State Vice President and former MLA N V S S Prabhakar alleged that KCR was trying to alter the existing political dynamics in the state by brining Y S Sharmila to the fore, and claimed that senior Congress leader K V P Ramachandra Rao was also involved in the whole matter.

He said that the new party was being formed to protect the CM, and to benefit the TRS in the next Assembly elections in the state.

YSR Congress Party leader from Chevella, Konda Raghava Reddy, on the other hand, seemed to be one of the few to express unequivocal support for Sharmila's plans to possibly launch a new party wholeheartedly, and said that there was an urgent need for the return of YSR's way of ruling, Rajanna Rajyam, in Telangana.

Speaking to the media, he said that the people of the state were facing a lot of problems under the current regime, and that several welfare programs introduced by YSR were not being "properly implemented" in the state. The leader claimed that all the YSR supporters in the state were in favour of the formation of a new party, and hoped that Sharmila's new party, if formed, would be blessed by the people of Telangana.

Meanwhile speaking on behalf of the Jagan government, Advisor to AP Government Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy clearly stated that the YSRCP has nothing to do with Sharmila's decision to float a new party. However, he did add that the party could not possibly function in two states.