 "Y S Sharmila")
The Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Telangana Party (YSRTP), a regional political party in Telangana, was founded by Y S Sharmila, the daughter of former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh Y S Rajasekhara Reddy (YSR).
Founded on July 8, 2021, the party is led by its founder as president of the party. The headquarters of the party is located in Banjara Hills, Hyderabad.
Sharmila's entry into politics
Sharmila's father YSR had passed away in a plane crash in 2009. Sharmila joined her brother, Y S Jagan, on the ‘Odarpu Yatra’ to console the families of the supporter who died of shock or by suicide after hearing the news of YSR's death.
It was reported that as many as 122 people had died due to shock or by suicide after Y S Rajasekhara Reddy's death in a tragic helicopter crash.
The then Congress leadership was unhappy with the 'Odarpu yatra', as they saw this as an attempt by Jagan to garner support for the chief minister post in the state.
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The yatra was successful and it established Jagan as a strong political figure in the state.
In November 2010, he resigned from Congress and founded his own party, Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP).
But in May 2012, Jagan was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on embezzlement charges. Following his arrest, Sharmila took charge of the party’s campaigning from 2012 to 2013.
After Jagan’s release, Sharmila continued to campaign for the YSRCP as the second most prominent leader of the party, which went on to win a landslide victory in the 2019 elections.
The fallout
Despite registering a massive victory, the family relations reportedly grew astray. There are reports of a fallout on the issue of assets and Sharmila shifted her base to Telangana.
Launch of YSRTP
In 2021, Sharmila launched the YSR Telangana Party, with a promise to bring back her father’s legacy. A year later, Sharmila's mother, Vijayamma, resigned from her son Jagan’s YSRCP and joined her daughter’s party.
Sharmila toured Telangana on a 'padayatra', walking over 3,500 km to meet voters.
Merging with the Congress?
Speculations are rife that Sharmila will merge her party with the Telangana Congress Party. It is reported that she is considering contesting from the Paleru constituency in Khammam district for the upcoming Telangana elections.
However, Telangana Congress president A Revanth Reddy is in no mood for any sort of electoral understanding between the Congress and the YSRTP.
There were recent reports that the YSRTP president would shift into Andra Pradesh politics. She clarified that she will stay in Telangana and fight for the people in the state.
Sharmila tweeted, “Some people are cooking stories and trying to create a rift between me and the people. My appeal to those trying to create a rift is to focus on the ruling of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and the corruption in the ruling. My future is with Telangana, my fight is for Telangana.”
