YSR Legacy: With Vijayamma’s Support, Will Sharmila Split Votes in Telangana?

AP CM Jagan Mohan Reddy's mother Vijayalashmi has left YSRCP to join her daughter's YSR Telangana Party.

AP CM Jagan Mohan Reddy's mother Vijayalashmi, known as Vijayamma, has left YSRCP to join her daughter's YSR Telangana Party.

(Image: Kamran Akhter/The Quint)

YS Vijayalakshmi has severed ties with the ruling YSR Congress Party in Andhra Pradesh and moved to Telangana to support her daughter YS Sharmila’s YSR Telangana Party. Vijayamma, as she is popularly known, is the widow of former AP Chief Minister and Congress leader YS Rajasekhara Reddy, who died in a helicopter crash in 2009, and the mother of the current AP CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.

Will Vijayamma and her daughter make a difference in Telangana, a state where the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi and Bharatiya Janata Party are expected to lock horns in the 2023 Legislative Assembly elections?

Why the Decision Is Significant?

Vijayamma announced the unexpected decision to resign from the position of honorary president of YSRCP in the third plenary of the party held at Amaravati in the second week of July. She said at the plenary, “Now, it's time to stand with my daughter Sharmila who is striving to realise the dream of her father in Telangana through her party – YSR Telangana Party. I accomplished my task in Andhra and now I will have to focus on Telangana.”

The “task” alluded to was the rise of Jagan Reddy to power in Andhra Pradesh, after his bitter separation, post his father’s untimely demise, from Indian National Congress, his long stint in prison over charges of hoarding disproportionate assets, and his unsuccessful effort to win against Telugu Desam Party’s N Chandrababu Naidu in 2014 Assembly elections.

Vijayamma with YS Sharmila at YSR's resting place. 

(Photo: Accessed by The Quint)

Vijayamma and Sharmila were the ones who kept YSRCP together during tough times, to eventually see the party’s massive win in 2019 Assembly elections. Now that Sharmila has a party of her own that promises to bring back ‘Rajanna Rajyam' – a welfare raj in her father’s name – in Telangana, will Vijayamma’s presence in the newly formed state make a difference?

Sharmila, who is currently on a padayatra has been telling her supporters, “As Rajanna Bidda (daughter of Rajasekhara Reddy) I promise you to bring in Rajanna Rajyam in Telangana.” Meanwhile, Vijayamma has already organised a YSR memorial meeting in Hyderabad to which her husband’s old political associates, cutting across party lines, were invited. This did rekindle the memory of Rajasekhara Reddy’s times.

YS Sharmila (left) with brother YS Jaganmohan Reddy.(Photo Courtesy: Twitter/@ys_sharmila)

YSR was a statesman known for his pro-poor welfare schemes including the health scheme Rajiv Arogyasri, tuition fee reimbursement scheme, and agriculture scheme of free power for farmers.

But the political ambition of YS Sharmila and Vijayamma brings up two questions: What is the relevance of ‘Rajanna Rajyam’ in present day Telangana? Can Sharmila convince people of Telangana to support her despite her Andhra nativity?

Daunting Tasks Ahead of Sharmila

The political narrative has radically changed in Telangana after the region, which was once part of Andhra Pradesh, became a state in 2014. Regional sentiment has become the driving force for politics in Telangana now.

YSR, who hailed from Kadapa district of Rayalaseema region in AP, was killed in a chopper crash before the state's division. In Telangana gallons of water have flown under the bridge since then, casting a doubt on the fruitfulness of centering politics around YSR’s legacy. It had worked in AP, where Jagan Mohan Reddy and his mother gathered the masses to rally behind YSR’s name in 2019. But Telangana is not AP.

In Telangana, where regional sentiment still matters, YSR is also remembered as a Rayalaseema man. Back in the day, right on the floor of AP Assembly, YSR had asked TRS leaders whether Andhra people would need a visa to enter Telangana.

YSR poster in Andhra Pradesh

“Is Telangana KCR's (current Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao) jagir,” Rajasekhara Reddy had asked, when he was the CM, in AP. Later, after YSR’s demise, KCR led a spirited battle against his Rayalaseema affinity.

Syed Amin Jafri, journalist and AIMIM MLC told The Quint, “After the emergence of Telangana as a separate state, Jagan Mohan Reddy's YSR Congress that has Andhra roots has been edged out from the state’s political space. Survival for Sharmila is questionable in Telangana politics in such a scenario.”

With Sharmila bringing YSR’s name back to the fore, the TRS has already struck one blow.

Minister Kodali Venkateswara Rao (Nani) recently stated that had YSR been alive, Telangana state would not have been formed. Put on the backfoot, Sharmila replied, “It is YSR who strove hard to incorporate (AP) state bifurcation in UPA's agenda. He travelled an extra mile for an alliance with the TRS in 2004.”

Sharmila also has been using her marital status to strike a chord in Telangana. Though she was born in Rayalaseema, as the second daughter of YSR, she is married to evangelist Anil Kumar who hails from Khammam.

“As a daughter-in-law of Telangana I have every right to enter state politics like anyone,” says Sharmila. Her party’s guiding principles are equality, development based on self-reliance, and welfare, she added, at a public meeting.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, mother Y.S. Vijayalakshmi, sister Sharmila and other family members pay floral tributes to YSR statue.

Sharmila also did try to woo the Reddy voters who were once YSR’s strength. However, with A Revanth Reddy becoming the president of Telangana Congress, the community is now backing this former TDP man.

Another YSR voting bloc, Muslims, now support the TRS which is in alliance with All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen. The Dalits too have been largely supporting the TRS in Telangana.

Can Sharmila Divide Votes in Telangana?

Assembly elections 2023 could be a tough contest for the ruling-Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) which is currently facing the heat from the national clout of Bharatiya Janata Party, which plans to bank on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s public appeal to win seats in Telangana. The Congress, the principal Opposition party in the state, too hopes to win back its lost clout in this election.

In this intense fight, will Sharmila divide votes to benefit of one major party over the other?

“See the route map of her padayatra. All the districts such as Ranga Reddy, Nalgonda, and Khammam, which she will cover are Congress strongholds. It is a clear indication that Sharmila is aiming to cut into the Congress votes to benefit KCR,” analyst Raka Sudhakar opined. However, will Sharmila benefit the BJP by cutting into TRS’ vote-base?

YS Sharmila is late Chief Minister YS Rajasekara Reddy’s (YSR) daughter.(Photo Courtesy: The News Minute)

Political commentator K Nageswar said, “Jagan has succeeded in harnessing his father's legacy in Andhra by targeting Telangana on utilisation of river waters and distribution of assets.”

Given this, Nageswar asked how Sharmila can bat for Telangana? YSRCP had won one Lok Sabha and three Assembly seats in Telangana in 2014 elections. But its elected leaders later joined the TRS.

Will Sharmila remain a marginal player or become politically relevant in Telangana? Assembly election 2023 alone can give clarity in this regard.