Marthi Subrahmanyam
Vijayawada
Speculation is buzzing in Andhra Pradesh over whether Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin and Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shiva Kumar have successfully brokered reconciliation between AP Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and his younger sister, YS Sharmila. Jagan Mohan Reddy and Sharmila have been at odds for the past two years on various issues.
According to well-placed sources, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin and Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister, as well as Congress leader, DK Shiva Kumar, engaged in discussions with Jagan Reddy and Sharmila, helping them find common ground on most of their disputes.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Stalin is known to share a close relationship with Jagan Mohan Reddy, while DK Shiva Kumar is a trusted friend of the YSR family, who worked diligently to defuse tensions between the brother and sister, achieving a successful resolution.
Sharmila appears to have recognised the importance of national party support, prompting her to express interest in merging the YSRTP with Congress. In this regard, she sought the mediation of Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shiva Kumar.
However, Sharmila stipulated a condition to Congress leaders that she would exclusively work for the party in Telangana, refraining from interfering in Andhra Pradesh politics, sources have revealed. Telangana Congress chief Revanth Reddy expressed reluctance to Sharmila’s proposal to merge her party into the Congress.
It has come to light that Sharmila was offered a Rajya Sabha seat from Karnataka. While the merger of Sharmila’s YSRTP with the Congress appears almost certain, the location and details are yet to be finalised, according to an anonymous senior Congress leader. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Stalin played a pivotal role in facilitating reconciliation between Jagan Reddy and his sister, Sharmila.
Sources suggest that Jagan Mohan Reddy, anticipating potential political challenges from his sister Sharmila, has agreed to grant her a fair share of their joint properties located in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana, as well as compromise on other issues.
Rahul Gandhi has reportedly assured Sharmila that she will be appointed as Congress party in-charge for states outside Andhra Pradesh, mitigating any potential conflicts with Jagan Mohan Reddy.
An intriguing aspect of this episode is that the disputes between Jagan Reddy and Sharmila have been resolved without the involvement of Sharmila’s husband, Anil Kumar, in the negotiations. Meanwhile, the reconciliation orchestrated by Shiva Kumar and Stalin has taken the BJP by surprise. BJP leaders had assumed that Jagan Reddy was a staunch ally, and they are now grappling with the unexpected development of Jagan Reddy covertly aligning with Congress leader Shiva Kumar and TN Chief Minister Stalin, both of whom are staunch political opponents of the BJP.
