Telangana Polls: YS Sharmila Goes Silent

Weeks before the state polls, YSR Telangana Party (YSRTP) chief YS Sharmila announced that her party has decided not to contest the November 30 Telangana Assembly elections. Earlier, the TDP pulled out of the election race in the state. 

Elaborating on this, Sharmila said the party decided against contesting the Assembly election as it did not want to cut into the anti-incumbency votes. She said it is a conscious decision to join the like-minded parties and put up a joint fight against the ‘misrule’ of the BRS government. She also said the Congress party will have the party's unconditional support in the elections. 

The sudden volte-face of party chief YS Sharmila did not go down well with many party leaders. Several key leaders from the party led by Gattu Ramachandra Rao resigned en masse from the party and joined Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS). Harish Rao welcomed them into the BRS fold. 

Sharmila, who launched her YSR Telangana party in Hyderabad in 2021, has relentlessly attacked the ruling BRS government and resolved to fight for the Telangana farmers and unemployed youth of the state. A few months later, she embarked on a 3,800 km padayatra in Telangana. The YSRTP leader’s yatra was stopped by police at different places and she had to move to the court to seek permission. Later, she resumed the yatra with conditional permission but was again forced to terminate it after she was arrested in Mahabubabad last year. 

Ever since Sharmila announced that her party was pulling out of the election race in the state, she has maintained a studied silence on the ruling party’s criticisms. Recently, while addressing an election rally in Narsampet, chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao said the YSRTP chief is reportedly trying to take revenge on party’s candidate Sudarshan Reddy. Taking a jibe at her, KCR asked the voters to choose wisely between development and wads of cash reportedly being sent by her to the constituents of Narsampet. It is worth mentioning here that during the course of her padayatra, Sharmila had accused the BRS MLA of corruption which resulted in an attack on her yatra vehicle. 

However, the direct criticism from none other than the chief minister has evoked any response from the YSRTP president. It’s not clear if Sharmila chose to ignore his remarks given the election atmosphere in the state or waiting for the right time to pay back to the critical remarks of him. 
 

Also Read: Will Pawan Kalyan Dare To Campaign In Telangana?