Recently, YS Jagan expressed his unhappiness at the fact that his younger sister and Andhra Congress President YS Sharmila who was contesting from Kadapa for the Lok Sabha, would lose her deposit.
Sharmila, on the other hand backed by YS Vivekananda’s daughter Sunitha is banking on the sympathy factor of Vivekananda’s murder to lay claim to the legacy of YSR and assert herself in politics.
So, what do her prospects in the election look like? Does she have any chance or will she lose her deposit as Jagan claims?
The battle prima facie is between YS Avinash and Sharmila. The TDP has fielded a candidate Chadipiralla Bhupesh Subbirami Reddy, yet for all practical purposes, he is a dummy.
In 2019, YS Avinash got 64% of the vote whereas TDP candidate Adinarayana Reddy got 33%. The YSRCP improved its vote share by 8 %.
The TDP cadre this time will be cross-voting in favour of YS Sharmila. Assuming Sharmila gets the entire TDP vote share, plus the 8% vote base which YSRCP had benefitted from in 2019, it will still leave her well behind YS Avinash.
Besides, Kadapa is heavily invested in the YSRCP government. The people there might have sympathy for Sharmila but what’s the point in voting for her when she cannot form the government? They would lose out on all the welfare schemes from the Jagan government. And finally, she represents the Congress Party that had destroyed Andhra Pradesh.
“Had it been anyone apart from Avinash, I would not have contested but I cannot see a murder accused enter the Lok Sabha”, said YS Sharmila. Had Sharmila taken on Jagan himself and lost, it might have enhanced her stature.
Only time will tell as to what political benefits, Sharmila will reap from contesting in Kadapa.