YSR Telangana Party founder YS Sharmila meets Congress leader Sonia Gandhi after joining the Congress, in New Delhi on Thursday, Jan. 04, 2024. (Photo: IANS/@realyssharmila)
Amaravati, January 16 (IANS) The Congress on Tuesday appointed Y. S. Sharmila as the president of the party's Andhra Pradesh unit.
All India Congress Committee (AICC) president Mallikarjun Kharge appointed her as the president of Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC), a day after Gidugu Rudra Raju resigned from the post to pave the way for her appointment.
Kharge has appointed Rudra Raju as special invitee to the Congress Working Committee (CWC).
Sharmila is sister of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and daughter of former chief minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy.
Sharmila, who merged YSR Telangana Party (YSRTP) with the Congress party on January 4, thanked Kharge, Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and K. C. Venugopal for trusting her with the post of the president of APCC.
"I promise to work faithfully towards rebuilding the party to its past glory in the State of Andhra Pradesh with total commitment and integrity," she posted on 'X'.
She also thanked AICC in-charge for Andhra Pradesh Manickam Tagore and said that she is looking forward to working closely with each and every Congress foot soldier.
Sharmila said that she also seeks support of Rudra Raju and every other leader of the party in the state on whose experience and expertise she would like to build on to reach "our set goals".
While joining Congress on January 4, Sharmila had recalled that her father YSR not only served the Congress party his entire life but also gave his life serving the Congress party.
"It was my father's dream to see Rahul Gandhi as the Prime Minister and I am happy that I am going to be a part of making that happen," she said.
Sharmila, who had actively campaigned for YSR Congress Party in 2019 elections, felt sidelined by Jagan after the party came to power with a landslide victory.
In 2021, she entered politics in Telangana and floated the YSRTP.
However, she did not contest the recent Assembly elections in Telangana. She claimed that since Congress stood a chance of winning in Telangana, she graciously withheld YSRTP from contesting Assembly elections as she did not want to divide anti-KCR votes. She said she was happy that they contributed to the Congress victory in Telangana.
