KAKINADA
Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Y.S. Sharmila on January 25 (Thursday) said that her brother Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy changed completely after he became the Chief Minister, and ignored her entire contribution to the YSR Congress Party despite all her sacrifices.
Addressing the Congress supporters and cadres in Kakinada city as part of her two-day visit to Coastal Andhra Pradesh, she said, “Braving all challenges, I have done 3,200 km of padayatra, and slept on the roads for various campaigns, including the Odarpu Yatra. I stood by Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy during his troubled times and whenever he needed me without expecting any personal gain.”
‘Changed since swearing-in’
“All I wanted was Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy to become the Chief Minister to fulfil the dreams of my father Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, the former Chief Minister. I believed he would do all good to the people of Andhra Pradesh. However, he changed from the day he was sworn in as Chief Minister. Rajanna (YSR) Rajyam is not visible and there are no imprints of YSR in the administration of Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy now,” she said.
‘’Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy has no right to claim to be the successor of YSR, who stood by farmers, as long as the former’s policies are not farmer-friendly,’‘ she said. While YSR was accessible to every MLA round the clock, Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy is not accessible even to his own MLAs and Ministers, she added.
I was well aware that my family would break if I decided to join the Congress. ‘‘Still, I have taken the call, to work for the people of Andhra Pradesh as Rahul Gandhi is keen to sign on the Special Category Status for Andhra Pradesh (if Congress comes to power in 2024),“ she said.
Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s 2019 poll promise was to fight for the SCS, which he kept aside later, she alleged.
“The present-day Andhra Pradesh is not what the Congress cherished it to be. The idea of the Congress was for the State to have a capital, SCS, and the commissioning of the Polavaram project. However, even in 2024 (nearly 10 years since), the people of Andhra Pradesh are still in confusion over the State capital,” she said.
In YSR’s footsteps
Reminiscing her days with YSR, Ms. Sharmila said, “My father always wished to strive to make Rahul Gandhi as Prime Minister. I still remember his words and I’m striving for his goals.’‘
Targeting the BJP, Ms. Sharmila said, the party instigated one religion against another for its political mileage while the Congress remained the largest secular party in the country. She alleged that Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy enslaved all his MLAs and MPs to the BJP which had been dictating terms in Andhra Pradesh.
