VIJAYAWADA: The results of the 2024 elections once again have proved that the people of Andhra Pradesh are yet to forgive the Congress even after a decade of the State bifurcation.
The party, a non-entity in Andhra Pradesh for a decade, had hoped for a revival in the 2024 elections. The grand old party even claimed that people are vexed with the TDP and the YSRC and are now favouring it. However, it was proved wrong.
A year or two before the elections, the Congress, which lacked strong cadre in the State, started rebuilding its base and constituted mandal-level committees. However, it was looking for a leader to lead from the front. At that time, the Congress zeroed in on YS Sharmila Reddy, daughter of former Chief Minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh YS Rajasekhara Reddy and sister of YSRC chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.
Sharmila, who merged her political outfit YSR Telangana Party with the Congress, was made the new APCC chief. Right from the start, she adopted an aggressive attitude towards the YSRC, particularly her brother, and the TDP, calling them B teams of the BJP.
She focused her attention on Kadapa from where she contested the Lok Sabha election. In her whirlwind tour of Rayalaseema and Kadapa, she targeted her cousin YS Avinash Reddy, sitting YSRC MP and accused in the murder case of her uncle and former minister YS Vivekananda Reddy. She even berated her brother for forgetting his promise of developing the State.
However, none of her speeches or promises that the Congress would accord Special Category Status to Andhra Pradesh, once it comes to power at the Centre, seem to have impressed the people of Kadapa or the State. They rejected her in the election. The Congress was nowhere to be seen in the contest though several seniors had contested the polls.