YS Sharmila Reddy, the president of the Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee, found herself in police custody on Thursday, along with 40 other Congress party members, during a planned protest march in Vijayawada. The demonstration, organised under the banner of 'Chalo Secretariat,' aimed to draw attention to the issues faced by unemployed youth and students in the state.
The protest march, originating from the Congress headquarters at Andhra Ratna Bhavan, was disrupted when police detained Sharmila and her fellow activists for blocking roads and chanting slogans. To evade potential house arrest, Sharmila had spent the preceding night at the party office.
Addressing the media on Wednesday, Sharmila criticized her brother, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy, accusing him of failing to address the concerns of unemployed youth and students over the past five years.
Expressing her frustration, Sharmila questioned the government's response to peaceful protests, stating, "If we call for a protest on behalf of the unemployed, will you try to keep us under house arrest? Don't we have the right to protest in a democracy? Is it not shameful that as a woman, I have been forced to evade the police and spend the night in the Congress Party office to avoid house arrest."
In a post on social media, she further criticized the state government, suggesting that their actions were rooted in fear. "Are we terrorists or anti-social forces? They are trying to stop us, which means they [the government] are afraid of us. They are attempting to conceal their incompetence, the real truth. Even if they try to stop us, hinder our workers, our struggle on behalf of the unemployed will not cease," she emphasized.
YS Sharmila officially joined the Congress on January 4, merging her YSR Telangana Party with the grand old party at the All India Congress Committee headquarters in New Delhi. The move was executed in the presence of Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge and leader Rahul Gandhi.
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