Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy Tuesday said that “some of Chandrababu Naidu’s admirers, star campaigners have joined the party that divided the state, in order to uplift the former CM’s position”.
The remarks are being seen as Jagan’s first public reaction to his sister Y.S. Sharmila’s venture into Andhra Pradesh as state chief of the Congress, which had bifurcated the state a decade ago, carving out Telangana.
Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP) is the main opposition in Andhra, while the Congress, since 2014, has been decimated electorally. The latter has brought in Sharmila in a bid to reclaim the YSR legacy and votebank from Jagan.
Assuming office Sunday, Sharmila started targeting her elder brother and the ruling YSRCP chief Jagan over various issues, ranging from alleged attacks on Christians in Manipur to Andhra’s financial status.
Sharmila claimed that Jagan, being a Christian, had not reacted to the Manipur situation, and that instances of atrocities on Dalits in Andhra had shot up under his regime. While alleging that sand, liquor and mine mafia were thriving in the state, she said that Andhra lacked development and had been pushed into a “debt of Rs 10 lakh crore”.
Sharmila also accused Jagan of “mortgaging the state’s interests like special category status with the Centre in his self-interest” and targeted him over “the lack of a proper capital and even roads in Andhra Pradesh”.
On Tuesday, Sharmila stepped up the attacks while touring Srikakulam, the north coastal Andhra end district bordering Odisha.
“My father YSR (YS Rajasekhara Reddy) opposed the BJP all his life, but today sadly Jagan ‘anna’s’ government is functioning like the BJP’s servant, a puppet in the hands of the Centre,” Sharmila said after paying tributes at the YSR pylon at Ichchapuram, the last Andhra town towards Odisha, where the late Congress CM YSR had concluded his epoch-making padayatra that helped him ascend to power in the state in 2004.
Sharmila’s stress on the word “anna” came after Y.V. Subba Reddy, a senior YSRCP leader and uncle to the siblings, reportedly objected to her referring to the CM as Jagan Reddy.
“I chose the same Ichchapuram (to begin state tour as Andhra Congress chief) to continue YSR’s fight on behalf of the poor. My drive for the state’s good begins here,” Sharmila said, adding that it was as a Congress CM that YSR brought in welfare programmes like Arogyasri, free farm power and higher education fee reimbursement to the state.
While Sharmila was in Srikakulam, Jagan addressed a public meeting at Uravakonda in Anantapur district, the other end of Andhra Pradesh close to Bengaluru.
“Though Chandrababu Naidu only deceived the poor, he has the backing of many campaigners operating from other parties much like his benamis in Amaravati capital area lands. His ‘adopted son’, a permanent resident of a neighbouring state, is one star campaigner, while his vadina garu (sister-in-law) who is in another party is another star campaigner. You all know who that is,” the CM said in an obvious reference to Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan and BJP’s Andhra unit chief Daggubati Purandeswari.
The TDP and Jana Sena Party have tied up for the Andhra assembly polls scheduled for this year.
“In addition, now, a Chandrababu admirers’ group has joined the party that bifurcated the state, to lend a helping hand as star campaigners. But no worries, I have a record number of star campaigners in this nation’s political history — that is you sisters from every household in the state that benefited from our welfare schemes,” Jagan said at the event to release the fourth tranche of Rs 6,394 crore under the YSR Aasara scheme.
The amount will be credited directly into the bank accounts of 78,94,169 women members belonging to close to eight lakh self-help groups (SHGs) across the state.
Up to Rs 19,176 crore has already been credited in three prior installments, and the latest financial assistance clears the total outstanding dues of SHGs amounting to a substantial Rs 25,571 crore, officials said in a communication to the media.
“This is in stark contrast to the unpaid dues left by the previous TDP government, showcasing the YSRCP regime’s commitment to its word, dedication in addressing the financial obligations of poorer households and supporting women across the state,” a YSRCP source told ThePrint.
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Sharmila’s state-wide tour
With the Andhra Pradesh assembly and Lok Sabha elections just months away, Sharmila embarked on a district tour, beginning with Srikakulam, Parvathipuram and Vizianagaram Tuesday.
Sharmila hopped on an RTC bus at Palasa to reach Ichchapuram, and interacted with passengers taking feedback about the state government. She was accompanied by Gidugu Rudraraju and N. Raghuveera Reddy, the former state Congress chiefs, and other senior leaders from the party.
Congress sources said the nine-day tour will cover all 26 state districts mainly for review meetings to assess the party’s strength in order to strategise and regain the hold it lost in the state since 2014. Sharmila’s schedule includes interactions with the public and the press.
The Congress was in power in Andhra Pradesh from 2004 to 2014 but got wiped off the legislature thereafter. It polled under 1.2 percent votes in the 2019 elections.
“It is an uphill task but we are happy with the focus, media and public attention we have started getting now with Sharmila’s entry. She is giving the state Congress’ people-oriented welfare narrative visibility. Coupled with the inductions from the YSRCP, many of them former Congressmen, we hope to regain our vote-bank in the state,” Janga Goutham, Congress working president, told ThePrint.
However, YSRCP leaders like Subba Reddy are derisive of Sharmila joining the Congress, which he accused of including YSR’s name in Jagan’s disproportionate assets case charge sheet and sending their leader to jail for 16 months in 2012-2013.
It was Sharmila who had mainly led the YSRCP campaign in the absence of her brother from May 2012 to September 2013. She took a major lead in the party’s 2019 poll campaign too, contributing in her brother’s mega success with her crowd-pulling oratory skills and rallies. The two, however, parted ways in 2021.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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