After months of preparation, it seems that leader Y S Sharmila is now ready to launch her new political party in Telangana.
Reports say that she will announce its name on July 8, the day of the birth anniversary of her father, former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Y S Rajasekhar Reddy. She will also declare the agenda of the party besides releasing its flag.
(Though she is yet to announce the party's name officially, sources close to the leader have hinted that she has decided to call the party
YSR Telangana Party in an obvious homage to her father and a bold reclamation of his legacy - her brother's party, the ruling party in AP, is called the YSR Congress Party.)
It is also being said that several prominent personalities, including TJS founder M Kondandaram and BC Welfare Association leader R Krishnaiah, have been invited for the grand launch.
Sharmila had announced her intention to
enter Telangana's political arena earlier this year, confirming the many rumours about the fallout between her and her brother, incumbent AP CM Y S Jaganmohan Reddy.
Since the announcement, she has been thundering ahead with the efforts to launch her party, and has conducted
several meetings with the people of the state. In most meetings, the politician has been very
explicit about her disapproval of Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao's way of running the state and has made many critical remarks against him.
Further, she has been actively engaged in speaking on pressing issues facing the people of the state, including unemployment,
agrarian problems, and the feud between the two Telugu states over the
sharing of the waters of the Krishna. She had even staged a
three-day hunger strike in support of the unemployed youth of Telangana some time back.
Sharmila has repeatedly promised the people that she will fight to
bring back Rajanna Rajyam (the "golden" era of her father's rule) in the state. It will be interesting to see how her party fares.