sharmila-resurrects-ysr-legacy-in-bid-to-revive-congress-in-andhra-pradesh

Yeduguri Sandinti Sharmila Reddy is doing for Congress what Prime Minister Narendra Modi is doing for the BJP. The difference is that BJP aims to establish itself, while Sharmila has the task of reviving her party in Andhra Pradesh. The response is encouraging in select areas. When News Arena India Editor-in-Chief Naveen S Garewal caught up with her in Proddatur in Kadapa district to learn about her effort, she summed it up by saying, “It’s an arduous task, but the effort is on.”

Sharmila’s campaign convoy rolls into the town of Proddatur like a wave of energy. This small city in the YSR Kadapa District of Andhra Pradesh, located on the banks of the River Penna, suddenly gets into a frenzy as vehicles make their way through the narrow lanes.

 

The “O Sharmila” song in Telugu appears to be straight out of a Tollywood movie, with her picture with folded hands surfacing from behind Congress party flags. After her appointment as Andhra Pradesh Congress President, the party flags and posters have begun to resurface in the state dominated by regional parties for the past decade.

 

Suddenly, the loudspeakers blare the iconic voice of her late father, former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, saying, "Namaste akka, amma, paapa" - a recording from his 2004 campaign that still has the power to make the crowds feel his presence.

 

Though YSR, as Rajashekhara Reddy is popularly called, had tragically died in a 2009 helicopter crash in the Nallamalla hills, his voice and legacy live on, turning people emotional with nostalgia.

 

At this point, Sharmila takes to the microphone while riding an open jeep and, in her charismatic Telugu, says, "I know you miss him; we all miss him. I belong to YSR's blood. Like my father, I will fight uncompromisingly for the rights of the oppressed. Your vote will allow me to fight for you. Empower me so that I can fulfil the tasks YSR could not complete due to his sudden demise."

 

As the convoy passes through Gangamma Temple Road,  Main Bazaar, and Dargaa Road, crowds turn euphoric, many holding aloft banners with images of Rajashekhara alongside Sharmila, Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, and Sonia Gandhi.

 

The Congress party has a strong presence in Proddatur town, a centre for business for other small towns like Jammalamadugu, Mydukur Chagalamarri, and Yerraguntla.

 

She has been campaigning nonstop since being appointed AP Congress President in January this year. “I have had little time to set the state of affairs within the party and prepare for the polls”, she says, adding that she has gone around once canvassing for her party in all 175 assembly segments of the state.

 

She addresses at least a dozen election meetings daily, accompanied by her core team of about 40 people. In between, whenever there is a short break, she gets into her private bus for a quick cup of tea with four security personnel standing guard outside.

 

Sharmila climbs atop a modified Bolero vehicle to address the gathering as her convoy pushes through Darga Bazaar's Muslim-dominated neighbourhoods. "This is a fight for justice for Vivekananda Reddy, my opponent Avinash Reddy (her first cousin and a candidate of rival YSR Congress Party that is headed by her brother and chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy), has a hand in his murder" she thunders.

 

 

"The CBI has named the YSRCP candidate Avinash Reddy as an accused. You must decide if you want to vote for a murder accused or Rajasekhara's daughter fighting to get justice for your murdered MP, Y S Vivekananda. This election is special. It is a fight for seeking justice for a murdered man", she goes to ask.

 

The crowd cheers Sharmila's bold words, enchanted by her oratory and connection to her legendary father. Her campaign's secret weapon is the old recording of Rajasekhara repeatedly saying "Namaste" - a surefire way to whip the crowds into a frenzy of nostalgic adulation whenever it played.

 

Sharmila spends ample time engaging the Muslim voters, who form around 60,000 of 2.6 lakh electorate in Poddatur, one of the seven assembly segments of Kadapa. The Kadapa parliamentary segment has around 17 lakh votes, 9 lakh women and 8 lakh men, with women voters outstripping men by a lakh. 

 

Sharmila makes sure to wave and make eye contact with as many burka-clad women as possible from her modified vehicle.

 

The Congress is contesting 23 of the 25 Parliament seats, while the CPI and the CPM are contesting one seat each as part of the India block. Out of the 175 state assembly elections, the Congress is contesting 157, while India, Block partners, CPI, and CPM are contesting 8 each.

 

 

The remaining one is being contested by CPI (ML), part of the India block. Sharmila, the party's president, is responsible for ensuring victory in most seats.

 

As dusk falls, Sharmila's voice blended with her father's in a surreal duet at her final event. "You should vote for Congress as we are the only party truly seeking change," she urged the crowd. "Both N. Chandrababu Naidu and my brother Jagan Mohan Reddy are hand in glove with the s BJP. Naidu has an open alliance, and Jagan has a deal to support it. If you want to defeat the BJP, your only choice is to vote for the Congress."

 

During Sharmila's campaign, the crowd laps each word, caught up in the whirlwind of history, emotion, and political theatrics. With 80 per cent of 23,000 postal ballots from the Kadapa Parliamentary constituency reportedly going in favour of the Congress and the potential winnability of around 15 assembly seats in the state, Sharmila's confidence is running high.

 

“I am winning the Kadapa Parliament seat and going to Lok Sabha. You can mark my words and see on June 4 what I'm saying now turns out to be true”, she says.

 

Her mannerisms and confidence reflect her determination to seal her father's legacy with a resounding victory that would send her, the daughter of YSR, to the Parliament.