Rift in family? Without Jagan, mother, sister convene YSR sympathisers meet in Hyderabad

A meeting convened by YS Vijayamma to commemorate her late husband and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy on Thursday was conspicuous by the absence of their son and present Andhra Pradesh chief minister Jaganmohan Reddy.

Jagan's non-attendance at the 12th anniversary meet in Hyderabad and his body language earlier at Edupulapaya, analysts say, is indicative of the rift developed within the family over YS Sharmila's plunge into Telangana politics.

YSR, as the two time Congress chief minister was popularly known, died in a chopper crash on September 2, 2009. The fateful event caused a political turbulence in erstwhile Andhra Pradesh and formation of the YSR Congress Party in 2011. And since the shaping of Telangana in 2014, Jagan had gradually withdrawn himself from the state.

Now, when Jagan is confined to Andhra Pradesh, his sister YS Sharmila has reentered Telangana political space despite her elder brother's disapproval.

The Thursday evening gathering of YSR sympathizers – politicians including Congress senior MP Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, industrialists, former bureaucrats etc in a star hotel in Hyderabad is seen by many as Vijayamma's effort to shore up support for her daughter's venture.

Two months back, on 8 July – YSR's birth anniversary, Sharmila announced her party's name as YSR Telangana Party (YSRTP), seeking a share of father YSR's political legacy.

While a YSRTP functionary told DH that Vijayamma personally invited several of the about 300 attendees, it was not clear if she had also solicited her son's presence in the meeting.

The siblings who reportedly did not meet for Rakshabandhan this year, were seen moving aloof during the prayers on Thursday morning at YSR's memorial in Idupulapaya in the family' hometurf Kadapa district.

Also read: AP CM Jagan's sister YS Sharmila launches YSR Telangana Party on father's birth anniversary

While Jagan returned to Amaravati for his official engagements, the mother and daughter came back to Hyderabad for their meeting with well wishers.

With her padayatra Maro-Prajaprasthanam in 2012-13, when Jagan was in jail for over a year in the Disproportionate Assets cases, Sharmila was instrumental in taking her brother headed YSRCP into the people, including in the Telangana region. Her extensive campaigning during the 2019 Andhra Pradesh elections helped her brother become the Chief Minister with an astounding majority.

However, Sharmila was not given any post or responsibility by Jagan, believed as the reason for her bold step defying her elder brother's wish.

On Thursday morning, after offering prayers at YSR's grave, alongside her brother, Sharmila sent out a tweet in Telugu saying that her father had encouraged her to strive for success even when left alone.

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