It has been quite some time that there have been reports about YSR Telangana Party president Y S Sharmila deciding to merge her party with the Congress.
While there were open statements from the Congress leaders like K V P Ramachandra Rao in this regard, there was no denial from Sharmila.
She even tweeted greeting Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on his birthday and showering praises on his leadership.
There were also reports that Shamila would announce her decision by June end, but more than a week elapsed since then, there has been no such statement from her so far.
Sources said the delay in Sharmila’s decision could be due to resistance from her mother Y S Vijayalakshmi, who has been playing pivotal role in her daughter’s independent growth as a political party president in Telangana.
Vijayalakshmi has not forgotten the humiliation meted out to her by the Congress high command, when she went to New Delhi along with her son and present Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy to meet Sonia Gandhi. They were denied audience and Jagan had to come back red-faced.
So, Vijayalakshmi doesn’t like her daughter to join hands with the Congress. But Sharmila tried to convince her that it was the only way she could gain some position in politics. If she can’t win even a single seat or if she withdraws from politics, it will be all the more humiliation.
Sources said while Vijayalakshmi reluctantly agreed to Sharmila’s proposal, she insisted that the latter should confine herself to Telangana and not to enter Andhra Pradesh, as proposed by the Congress high command.
Apparently, she doesn’t want a negative message to go into the public that both her son and daughter are fighting with each other for power in Andhra Pradesh. She wants Jagan to sustain power in AP, while her daughter proves herself as a leader in Telangana.
That is precisely why there is a stalemate in further moves of Sharmila. If the Congress agrees to continue Sharmila in Telangana, she might announce her party’s merger with the Congress soon, sources added.