Andhra CM's sister hints at new party; promises "Rajanna Rajyam" in Telangana [details]

YS Sharmila, the daughter of late Andhra Pradesh Congress stalwart YS Rajasekhara Reddy and sister of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, on Tuesday hinted at her plans to launch a new political party to bring "Rajanna Rajyam" (Rajanna's rule) to neighbouring Telangana. 

Sharmila, who is known as better orator and crowd puller than his brother, held a meeting with her later father's loyalists from Nalgonda district at her Lotus Pond residence in Hyderabad on Tuesday. Speaking to mediaperson ahead of the meeting, she said that the meeting was being conducted to assess the ground situation in Telangana. 

Assessing ground realities

"I want to understand the ground realities and to take their suggestions and the information they have...I called people from Nalgonda district. The meeting will be held with people from every district (of Telangana)," Sharmila was quoted as saying by NDTV. 

Quoting sources, news agency ANI reported that the meeting was held to posibilities of floating a new party by Sharmila, who played a major role in the victory of YSR Congress in 2019 Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh but has been kept herself away from public engagements since then.

YSR Congress, however, has distanced itself from Sharmila's political ambitions. Reacting to the development, YSR Congress general secretary Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy said that there is a difference of opinion between Jagan and Sharmila but clarified that there is no differences between them. 

Claiming father's legacy

The timing of the developments bears significance given the fact that there is still a strong base of Rajsekhara Reddy's supporters in Telangana, which is scheduled to go to elections in 2023. There are 119 seats in the Telangana Assembly elections. 

It was noteworthy that Telangana was part of Andhra Pradesh until 2014 when it split and became an independent state after a long struggle led by Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao. 

Sharmila's father Rajsekhara Reddy was chief minister of united Andhra Pradesh between 2004 and 2009 when he lost his life in a helicopter crash soon after winning a second term. After his father's death, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy split from the Congress party and floated YSR Congress.