Sometime in mid-2010, YS Vijayalakshmi, popularly known as Vijayamma, the widow of late Andhra Pradesh chief minister Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy, and her daughter YS Sharmila landed in New Delhi from Hyderabad. They directly drove to 10, Janpath, the official residence of then Congress president Sonia Gandhi. They were tense. They were expecting a warm welcome at her house as Dr YSR had a close rapport with her and the late Rajiv Gandhi. But their hopes were shattered the moment they entered the colonial-era building in which Sonia Gandhi resided.
First, they were made to wait for 10-15 minutes. When they were ushered into the drawing room, a stern-faced Sonia welcomed them coldly.
After his father’s shocking demise in a helicopter mishap in September 2009, Jagan Mohan Reddy started a tour of Andhra Pradesh to visit the homes of the people who died after hearing the news of YSR’s death. He was in the middle of his tour and Sonia Gandhi wanted him to end it.
A stunned mother tried to explain the reasons behind the “Odarpu” Yatra but to no avail. An enraged Sonia got up from her chair and asked her to stop. Shocked and humiliated, the mother and daughter quietly left the then Congress president’s house and returned to Hyderabad.
But they swore vengeance. As they say in Rayalaseema, once the Reddys vow to take revenge against someone, they don’t rest until they realise it. They either avenge or destroy themselves in the process. Perhaps Sonia Gandhi was not aware of that.
When Jagan heard the news, he was incensed. He categorically told his family and close circles that he was going to quit the Congress to float his own party. He thundered that he would teach a lesson to the ungrateful and cold Gandhi family by destroying the Congress in Andhra Pradesh.
After his father’s death, Jagan was hoping to replace him. Or he was eyeing at least the post of state Congress president. But the coterie around Sonia and Rahul Gandhi advised them not to entertain him. The Gandhis appointed an old family loyalist with no mass base, K Rosaiah, as the new chief minister of the state. The entire party local unit, cabinet, and MLAs, though, were with the YSR family.
Since then, Jagan has destroyed the Congress completely in Andhra Pradesh and made it a Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) versus Telugu Desam Party (TDP) fight after the creation of Telangana. He is now going to test his popularity as the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh around April-May, when the state is expected to go to polls along with the Parliament elections.
The decimated Congress is sensing a chance to rebuild itself after its spectacular win in neighbouring Telangana in December.
Sonia Gandhi’s cold reception has now become warm and Sharmila is embracing her to take on the elder brother who she feels has betrayed her by not sharing power and their father’s legacy.
The AICC knows that YSRCP is nothing but old Congress, and unless it dents or destroys it, the grand old party can never rise from its ashes in AP. Party leaders hope that, exploiting the strained relationship between the brother and sister, they can at least make a decent beginning.
In the past six months, Sharmila has met the Gandhis a few times and her decision to stay away from the Telangana assembly elections helped the Congress humble the mighty KCR. According to insiders, the Gandhis have offered her the Andhra state unit president’s post and a Rajya Sabha membership in return.
It is not yet clear if Sharmila will accept the deal to take on her brother, but her joining the Congress or returning to her late father’s party could enthuse the cadres and even divide the YSRCP.
The Congress is also aware of the fact that Jagan is its main enemy and Nara Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP will gain at its cost. Unless it dents YSRCP to some extent, even allowing TDP to win, the Congress can’t even dream of securing its deposit in some assembly seats. Since Dr YSR is still hugely popular across Andhra Pradesh, Sharmila can hope to whip up sentiments by playing the victim. Jagan is reportedly jittery after the shock defeat of KCR, and the Congress wants to unleash Sharmila on him.
No one is expecting a quick turnaround with Sharmila leading a ragtag Congress in AP, but her return might change the perception regarding the party, which most people dislike for dividing the state close to the general elections in 2014.
Even if she fails to deliver seats, if Sharmila manages to wean away a substantial number of votes and followers, the Congress can hope to stay in the poll ring in the future.
The Congress, which has lost its deposit in all assembly and Lok Sabha seats in Andhra since 2014, has nothing to lose, whether Operation Sharmila works or not.
Both the Gandhis and Sharmila know that. They also know that public memory is short.
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