Why Sharmila, cousin Sunitha are accusing Jagan of 'murder politics'

A bitter fight has erupted in Andhra Pradesh’s most powerful political family, pitting Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy against his sister YS Sharmila and a cousin, whose father’s unresolved brutal murder has cast a shadow on elections in the state.

Both YS Sharmila, who is now president of the state Congress unit, and Dr YS Sunitha, daughter of murdered politician YS Vivekananda Reddy, are asking people to vote out Jagan for alleged involvement in the 2019 killing.

Family at war

Sharmila, who recently joined the Congress, is now the party’s candidate in the Kadapa Lok Sabha constituency. Her rival candidate at Kadapa is Jagan-led YSR Congress Party's YS Avinash Reddy – Sharmila and Jagan's cousin, and the man at the heart of the murder case.

The family feud has added a curious dimension to the election in Kadapa, which normally would have been a straight contest between the YSR Congress and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) of former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.

Long-drawn fight

The constituency has been a pocket borough of the YSR family since 1989. As the TDP has fielded a political novice this time, the contest has turned into a fight within the family.

Sharmila’s desire to ensure Jagan’s defeat on his home turf is the culmination of a long drawn and silent sibling fight over the reported sharing of properties of their late father YS Rajasekhar Reddy or YSR – who was the powerful chief minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh – and his political legacy.

It is widely reported that Jagan drove out Sharmila not only from their home but also politics after storming to power in 2019 with a thumping majority.

This forced Sharmila to take refuge in neighbouring Telangana, where she failed to make a cut. The Congress wooed her into its fold and launched her in Andhra Pradesh as the state party president.

Sharmila’s tit-for-tat

This has fuelled Sharmila's desire to take political revenge on Jagan and to stake claim both on the political legacy and property of the late YSR that was usurped by Jagan.

The story reeks of intrigues, counter intrigues, money, power and blood stains, sufficient to make a Tollywood potboiler.

According to a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) chargesheet filed in a disproportionate assets case (DAC), Jagan harvested huge wealth in a quid pro quo with investors between 2004 and 2009, when his father YSR was the Chief Minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh.

His relationship with the Congress soured following YSR’s death in a chopper crash in 2009, barely two months after his re-election. Jagan quit the Congress to float his own outfit called the YSR Congress Party in 2011.

Takes power

Soon, Jagan was arrested and jailed for over 16 months. This is when his sister Sharmila took charge of the YSR Congress Party as well as the traumatised family.

After obtaining bail in September 2013, Jagan regained control of the party and, after six gruelling years, was elected to power in 2019. He became Andhra Pradesh's Chief Minister. 

Promptly, Jagan kept Sharmila at bay, without assigning her any role either in party or the government.

Brutal murder

A few months before the 2019 elections, YS Vivekananda Reddy, a two-term MP and a soft-spoken brother of the late YSR, was hacked to death at his own supposedly secure home in Pulivendula town. It appeared that the killers were settling a decades-long enmity.

When the case was referred to the CBI, the agency was never allowed to interrogate the prime suspects. CBI officials were threatened, intimidated and attacked. When they wanted to arrest Kadapa MP YS Avinash Reddy, the Andhra Pradesh police did not cooperate.

Avinash Reddy evaded arrest by taking refuge in a hospital in Kurnool. The party’s aggressive cadres did not allow the investigating agency to enter the hospital.

Victim’s daughter

Now, Jagan has re-nominated Avinash Reddy as the party's candidate from Kadapa despite his being a murder accused.

Sunitha, the daughter of Vivekananda Reddy, has been fighting a legal battle to bring the killers to book. She has now joined forces with Sharmila to defeat Avinash Reddy and Jagan. The latter is also Assembly elections in the state along with the parliamentary battle.

Branding Jagan as a promoter of murder politics, Sharmila and Sunitha gave out a call on April 2 to voters to defeat him, and demanded a probe into his alleged involvement in the murder. They alleged that Vivekananda Reddy was murdered as he was batting for Sharmila to be the YSRCP candidate from Kadapa in 2019.

“It is clear that Avinash Reddy was involved in the murder of Vivekananda Reddy. But Jagan has not only shielded him but gone to the extent of fielding him again from Kadapa,” Sharmila said. “In the interest of justice for Vivekananda Reddy’s family, people should defeat Avinash Reddy and Jagan’s party.”

Congress view

Extending support to Sharmila, Sunitha said she would also work for the defeat of Avinash Reddy and Jagan. “Jagan’s government is soaked in blood. My father was killed for politics. Jagan used it in the 2019 elections. He is again using it now. His party should not come back to power,” she said.

State Congress senior vice president N Tulasi Reddy is hopeful that Vivekananda Reddy’s murder will be the prime issue in the 2024 election not only in Kadapa but across the state.

“Jagan’s sisters have raised embarrassing questions about the murder. It has become an election issue and Jagan will be defeated,” he said.

Other factors

But a journalist in Kadapa said lack of organisation for Sharmila is the main handicap for the Congress. “The murder debate does have the potential to influence a section of voters. But one needs a network of local leaders to galvanise the voters. The organisationally strong YSR Congress might easily neutralise their impact,” he said.

On the other hand, a retired bureaucrat who doesn’t want to be quoted said the unresolved murder has generated sympathy for Sharmila and Sunitha.

“Everybody knows who is behind the murder of Viveka. The cruel murder shook the conscience of everyone in the district. Sharmila’s entry has made the election a tough fight for Jagan in Kadapa. A win in Kadapa is not a cakewalk for YSR Congress this time,” he told The Federal.