Heir to YSR’s legacy, how siblings Jagan, Sharmila fell apart

The fight between chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and his sister YS Sharmila for the political legacy of their father and late chief minister of united Andhra Pradesh, YS Rajasekhara Reddy or YSR, has reached a crescendo in the state.

Sharmila, who heads the Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee, has declared that Chief Minister Jagan was not her brother as he had subverted the ideals of their late father by colluding with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government which has denied special category status to the state, a move that would have helped create lakhs of jobs.

Accusing Jagan of harming the interests of the state and instead working for the realisation of promises made by the Centre, Sharmila called upon the people to defeat him in the elections. Also accusing her brother of creating a rift in the family, she alleged that she was denied a share not only in the family asset like Sakshi newspaper but also in YSR's political legacy.

Jagan’s rise to power

YS Rajasekhara Reddy achieved cult status when he brought the Congress to power in 2004 by defeating the Telugu Desam Party (TDP)-led by N Chandrababu Naidu, after 10 years of wilderness. The Congress repeated the performance in 2009 as well, solely with the charisma of YSR.

But YSR died in a helicopter crash in 2009, three months after taking charge as the chief minister. His death, followed by Jagan’s claim for his father’s post, landed both the Congress as well as the YSR family in trouble.

Then Congress president Sonia Gandhi had no love lost for Jagan. Because, barely three months after the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, YS Vivekananda Reddy (brother of YSR), who won from Kadapa, resigned from the House to make room for Jagan. But Sonia did not accept this as she came to know that Vivekananda was resigning under duress. This incident created a rupture both in the family and the party.

While Vivekananada became an irritant for Jagan, the Congress high command found the latter troublesome. Vivekananda was brutally murdered in his own house in Pulivendula, his family’s hometown, in 2019.

Contentious Yatra, birth of YSRCP

Much to the discomfiture of the party's high command, Jagan, who was elected MP in 2009, launched a yatra called ‘Odarpu’ ostensibly to console the families of those who died of shock after YSR’s death.

Even though the Congress did not allow the Yatra, Jagan disobeyed the party high command’s order and went ahead with it. Jagan felt the only way to go ahead was to sever ties with the Congress and chart his course on the goodwill of YSR.

In 2011, he launched his party Yuvajana Shramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP).

Around this time, Jagan’s enormous wealth became a talking point in the state. Based on a petition filed by a Congress leader, the Andhra Pradesh High Court ordered a CBI probe into his alleged ill-gotten wealth.

Following the CBI investigation, Jagan was arrested and kept in the Chanchalguda Jail in Hyderabad for 16 months.

Sharmila’s leadership

When Jagan was in jail, the mantle of leadership fell on Sharmila. She picked up the Odarpu Yatra and walked 3,100 km across the state. As a result, in the by-elections held for 18 seats in 2012, YSRCP won 15 seats while the Congress and the then Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) bagged two and one seats respectively. The Odarpu Yatra and the huge win in the bypolls made Sharmila the second-in-command of the party.

Even after Jagan's release from jail, Sharmila continued to lead the party. She launched an innovative campaign against the TDP with the slogan 'Bye Bye Babu' for the 2019 election in which YSRCP won 151 out of 175 seats in the House.

Rift and Sharmila’s marginalisation

It is widely believed that Jagan and Sharmila had disagreements about the division of YSR’s property. Congress leader Dr N Tulasi Reddy said the politics accentuated differences after 2019. “Disputes over family properties are common. The win in the 2019 election made the discord in the family intense as she is said to have demanded a share in the political power as well,” he said.

Political sources known to the family said Sharmila demanded a stake in Sakshi newspaper and Bharti Cements.

It said that her request for a Rajya Sabha nomination or the Kadapa Lok Sabha seat also added fuel to the disaffection. The efforts of their mother Vijayamma to sort out the differences did not yield results.

“Jagan doesn’t like any family member to become a parallel power centre either in the party or in government. So, he marginalised Sharmila,” said a journalist from Kadapa who did not want to be quoted by name.

But Sharmila, having been smitten by the political ambition following her successful leadership, was not ready to sit idle.

Sharmila’s journey to Telangana and back

“She was also aware that it would be impossible to launch a rebellion in Andhra Pradesh due to Jagan's enormous influence. Hence, she migrated to Telangana, where she thought she could become a force if she mobilised the Reddy caste and Rajasekhar Reddy fans,” the journalist said.

That was how she started her second innings in Telangana by floating YSR Telangana Party (YSR TP) in 2021. To her surprise, the Congress unexpectedly offered her a difficult task to lead the party in Andhra Pradesh.

She found in the Congress offer an opportunity to stage a comeback in Andhra politics where she was denied a role by Jagan.

Her fierce fight with Jagan has brought the long-forgotten Congress into the limelight and is likely to change the complexion of Andhra politics altogether.