HYDERABAD: YSRTP president YS Sharmila is likely to be given a major responsibility by the Congress in the upcoming Assembly elections in Telangana in return for her consent to merge her outfit with the grand old party. Bhongir Congress MP Komatireddy Venkat Reddy is currently a ‘Star Campaigner’ for the Congress in Telangana and Sharmila could get an even more prominent position, according to AICC sources.
The Congress is likely to invite her to merge her outfit before September 6 or after September 12. Former AICC president Rahul Gandhi will be leaving on September 6 for a five-day tour of Europe. Sources said that Sharmila may not contest in the Assembly election and to compensate for that, she may be sent to Rajya Sabha from Karnataka in July next year when four seats would fall vacant.
After the Telangana Assembly elections, she is likely to shift her focus to Andhra Pradesh where the party has to prepare for Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. In the run-up to the Telangana Assembly elections, she would be asked to tour districts where YSR admirers are in sizeable numbers and consolidate the votes in favour of the Congress.
Meanwhile, the YS Rajasekhara Reddy’s loyalists in Telangana Congress — which includes six former ministers and ex-MPs — have come out in support of Sharmila ahead of the merger even as TPCC president A Revanth Reddy and his supporters are uneasy over the changing dynamics. YSR supporters including Congress Legislative Party leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramaraka, MP Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, and YSR’s close associate and former member of Rajya Sabha KVP Ramachandra Rao have welcomed her decision to return to the Congress.
While the old guard is happy over the turn of events after Sharmila’s breakfast meeting with Sonia and Rahul at Delhi, leaders who joined the Congress from other parties in the recent past are worried about her emerging as an alternative power centre in the Congress. According to sources, the AICC has asked the TPCC leaders not to speak against the YSR family and Sharmila’s entry into Congress.
Meanwhile, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar is likely to come to Hyderabad in the middle of this month, which is also sparking interest as he played a key role in helping Sharmila strike a deal with the party’s high command.
Sharmila was guarded in her response when asked about her party’s merger with the Congress. Earlier in the day, speaking to media persons after paying tributes to her father YS Rajasekhara Reddy on the occasion of his death anniversary at Idupulapaya in Kadapa district on Saturday, Sharmila said it was not the right time and place to respond on it.