A.P. Congress Committee president Y.S. Sharmila rejects allegations of her husband’s involvement in Jagan Mohan Reddy’s imprisonment in 2012

Jagan has changed a lot since becoming Chief Minister, she says; her meeting with Vivekananda’s daughter Narreddy Sunitha sparks buzz of the latter’s entry into Congress

APCC chief Y.S. Sharmila addressing party cadre in Tirupati on Sunday.

Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Y.S. Sharmila on Monday dismissed allegations that her husband Anil had met then President Pranab Mukherjee after her father Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy’s death, with the twin goals of making her (Ms. Sharmila) the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and imprisoning her brother Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy over embezzlement charges.

In her address to Congress party workers here, Ms. Sharmila maintained that when Mr. Anil met Mukherjee, he was accompanied by Y.S. Bharathi Reddy, Mr. Jagan’s wife. “If the YSRCP leaders have any suspicions about this, they should ask the former President’s son,” the APCC chief said.

Ms. Sharmila lamented that after becoming Chief Minister, Mr. Jagan had changed a lot. “He is going against what my father YSR stood for. While I do not consider him as my brother any more, I do not harbour any grudges against him,” Ms. Sharmila said.

Deploring that the YSRCP leaders were resorting to heinous personal attacks on her on social media, Sharmila termed them “jokers”. She said that she also owned a share in the media group owned by Mr. Jagan.

“I am the daughter of the ‘Pulivendula Puli’, and will not budge to any threat,” Ms. Sharmila said.

She said that though Mr. Jagan hailed from Kadapa district, he did little to make Kadapa Steel Plant a reality. He also put a halt to the railway line project between Kadapa and Bengaluru, Ms. Sharmila alleged.

Meanwhile, the meeting between Ms. Sharmila and Narreddy Sunitha, daughter of slain Kadapa MP Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy, at Idupulapaya on Monday morning assumed significance, leading to speculation that Ms Sunitha’s entry into the Congress was imminent. The cousins had a closeted meeting for a couple of hours, though no information was released to the media as to what transpired between the duo.

Interestingly, Ms. Sharmila and Ms. Sunitha had jointly offered prayers at YSR Ghat at Idupulapaya, before Ms. Sharmila made her way to the Congress meeting in Kadapa.

Published - January 29, 2024 07:17 pm IST