Newly-appointed Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee president Y S Sharmila, who is going all out to breathe some new life into the otherwise dead Congress party in the state, is quickly moving her pawns to attract disgruntled leaders from the ruling YSR Congress party.
According to the latest reports, senior minister in the Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy cabinet Gummanuru Jayaram, who has been dropped from his Aluru assembly seat and shifted as the party candidate from Kurnool parliamentary constituency, is looking up to the Congress as an alternative.
Sharmila reportedly held confabulations with Jayaram, who has refused to accept the YSRCP offer for Kurnool MP seat and gone into a virtual hiding for the last few days, after all his efforts to retain Aluru seat.
The APCC chief is understood have given him a bumper one-plus-one offer to Jayaram. The Congress would give both Kurnool MP seat as well as Aluru assembly seat to Jayaram and his family.
If Jayaram contests from Kurnool Lok Sabha seat, the party would give the ticket for Aluru assembly seat to his son Eshwar. Or the father and son can swap the two seats between them.
Apparently, a senior Congress minister in Karnataka has mediated between Sharmila and Jayaram family. Since this is more attractive, Jayaram is likely to accept the double offer, sources said.
Sharmila also negotiated with former Rajahmundry MP Vundavalli Arun Kumar and sought his help to revive the party in coastal Andhra. If he is willing, he is going to play active role in East Godavari district politics again, sources said.