Sharmila takes over as Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee president

Vijayawada, Jan 21 (PTI) Y S Sharmila on Sunday took oath as the president of Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee here, in the presence of senior leaders of the party and hundreds of cadres.

The newly sworn-in APCC president thanked senior Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge for reposing their faith and entrusting her with the responsibility.

"Y S Rajasekhara Reddy took up the PCC (president) post two times and went on to be the chief minister two times. Again, believing in Rajasekhara Reddy's child Y S Sharmila, Congress party, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, (Mallikarjun) Kharge and the elders of the Congress party have given that responsibility," said Sharmila.

Mincing no words, Sharmila immediately launched a scathing attack on the ruling YSRCP led by her brother and Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, and the TDP.

She claimed that there had been no development in Andhra Pradesh in the last five years under the YSRCP government, and five years prior to that under the TDP's rule.

Sharmila alleged that the YSRCP and TDP governments had pushed Andhra Pradesh into deep debt of about Rs 10 lakh crore.

In a broadside against Jagan Mohan Reddy, she said that the incumbent government does not have funds to lay roads or even pay salaries to employees.

The APCC president questioned if Andhra Pradesh has a capital city or funds to build one and added that not a single city in the state has a Metro train facility.

According to Sharmila, Andhra Pradesh has witnessed a 100 per cent rise in atrocities against Dalits and illegal sand mining led by a mafia.

Noting that the state did not receive special status even 10 years post bifurcation, she compared Andhra Pradesh to Himachal Pradesh and pointed out that the latter managed to attract several industries after receiving special status.

Sharmila said that Jagan Mohan Reddy fought for special status for the state as long as he was in the opposition, but had not done so after becoming the chief minister.

Holding the YSRCP and the TDP equally responsible for Andhra Pradesh not getting special status, she said both parties have become stooges of the BJP and surrendered to it and that both were 'two sides of the same coin'.

Attacking the BJP, she said that though the party has been in power for 10 years at the Centre and had promised to create two crore jobs in the country every year, it was a question if even one lakh jobs had been created in Andhra Pradesh during the period.

Sharmila asserted that any vote to either the YSRCP or the TDP would be a vote for the BJP as the two parties have 'supported' the saffron party in all its endeavours.

She called on the two parties to support the BJP only if it accords special status to Andhra Pradesh and recognises the Polavaram Project as a national project by funding 90 per cent of its cost.

Sharmila claimed that Jagan Mohan Reddy was a Christian and alleged that he was tight-lipped when many atrocities were happening against Christians in Manipur.

She claimed that her father Rajasekhara Reddy was a vociferous opponent of the BJP because it was a communal party which "only knows how to inflame religious passions and derive benefits out of those skirmishes".

Sharmila gave an open call to all fans and admirers of Rajasekhara Reddy to join hands with the Congress.

Later, Mangalagiri MLA A Ramakrishna Reddy, who recently quit the YSRCP, joined the Congress in Sharmila's presence.

Meanwhile, Vijayawada police Commissioner Kanthi Ratan Tata issued a statement clarifying that Sharmila’s convoy was not blocked by the police when she was on her way to the swearing-in function venue on Bandar Road.

Tata said any temporary stoppages experienced by Sharmila's convoy were only due to routine traffic management and that there wasn't any intentional interference.

Incidentally, a few Congress leaders staged a brief sit-in protest on the road at Yenikapadu centre after the convoy was asked to take a diversion. PTI