Though Andhra Pradesh Congress party chief YS Sharmila Reddy has been at loggerheads with former Chief Minister and YSR Congress party president YS Jagan Mohan, who is her own brother, over political issues surrounding the state from the past one year, it is an open secret that differences between them emerged due to property issues and other personal disputes. There is a strong rumour in political and media circles that Sharmila waged a battle with Jagan after the latter refused to share the assets and properties of their late father and former CM YS Rajasekhar Reddy.
Jagan Mohan Reddy initially discarded Sharmila as a non entity in politics and ignored her allegations on political hustings. But, she continued to pester him like thorn in the flesh with her unwavering attack on the YSR Congress party and its leaders. She didn’t spare Jagan in any of her public interaction and defamed in whatever manner possible during her election campaigns. Even though she didn’t directly pose a big challenge in the 2024 elections, her role in bringing down Jagan from power is indispensable.
When Jagan was behind the bars before claiming the CM’s throne in 2019, it was Sharmila who led the party from the front with her roadshows. Unfortunately, she was ousted from the party mercilessly by Jagan following some internal disputes. Many supporters of Rajasekhar Reddy opposed the manner in which Jagan treated Sharmila after coming to power. She left Andhra Pradesh and later became active in Telangana politics.
Out of the blue, Sharmila returned to the political scene of Andhra Pradesh and targeted Jagan in her style in the capacity of PCC chief. After that, she attacked Jagan and his party like no one and succeeded in dethroning him from power by playing her part. She impacted Jagan’s winning prospects in the strongholds of Rayalaseema region to some extent.
Even after the defeat of YSR Congress party in the recent elections, Sharmila didn’t mitigate her scathing criticism against Jagan. She continues to trade barbs with her brother directly and arraigns him for every failure in the state.
As the BJP turned out to be a close ally of TDP and Janasena in the state, there is no way for Jagan to survive from his disproportionate assets cases for much longer unless he moves closer to the INDIA bloc led by Indian National Congress. To make this happen, he will first need to reconcile with Sharmila.
Reportedly, Jagan has decided to change his strategy in facing the formidable NDA government in the state. He is planning to join the INDIA bloc soon and consolidate his chances to survive. So, he is reportedly willing to compromise with Sharmila and end the infighting.
Sources revealed that Jagan agreed to hand over the properties to Sharmila with a mutual consent and put an end to the entire episode. If this turns out to be true, there are strong chances for Jagan to openly extend support to the INDIA bloc in the run up to the next elections.