YSRTP chief Sharmila to meet BJP top brass during Delhi trip

NEW DELHI: With assembly elections in Telengana coming up next year, the state’s politics has interestingly moved to the national capital, stepping out beyond the borders of the battleground.

Within days of Telegana chief minister and TRS chief K Chnadrasekhar Rao taking his politics to the national stage by launching a national version of his regional party – renaming Telengana Rashtriya Samithi as Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) – YSRTP (YSR Telengana Party) president YS Sharmila, daughter of late YS Rajashekhar Reddy, will be holding her first press conference here to highlight corruption in the KCR-led government on Friday.

On her first trip to Delhi since Sharmila launched her YSRTP last year, after differences with her brother and Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy’s YSRCP, she is slated to meet home minister Amit Shah and other central leaders over Thursday and Friday.

While Sharmila or her newly formed YSRTP may not be relevant in Telengana’s politics yet, that she will be a new player in the state’s politics for the coming elections is a given.

In the midst of a statewide padayatra that has completed 2500 km recently, Sharmila is interestingly taking a break, to meet with central ministers in Delhi, and even address the media here. This move has naturally caught the attention of political watchers.

The buzz in the political circles about the move is about how YSRTP hitting the ground could work to the advantage of BJP, which on its own has little prospect so far in the southern state but has been working hard to defeat the incumbent TRS.

There is a possibility that Sharmila may discuss a political understanding with BJP, for the coming assembly polls in the state, which could help BJP tread into new areas that is still out of bounds for the saffron party, according to sources.