Sharmila will soon join Congress: Ramachandra Rao

Vijayawada: Congress party leader K. V. P. Ramachandra Rao has claimed that he had information that YSR Telangana Party (YSRTP) leader Y. S. Sharmila will soon join the Congress party.

Rao said that Sharmila has been invited to join the party as she is the daughter of staunch Congressman Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy.

Rao, who served as the chief minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh between 2004 and 2009, was a close friend of Rajasekhara Reddy.

The Congress leader also called on Rahul Gandhi at Gannavaram airport on Sunday night after the latter returned from Khammam in Telangana, where he addressed a massive public meeting on Sunday evening.

Before meeting Rahul, Rao told media persons that he will brief Rahul on the ground situation in Andhra Pradesh to strengthen the Congress.

He exuded confidence that the Congress will come to power in the state in 2024 and said that trying to rebuild the party brick by brick.

According to Rao, Congress was defeated in the previous election due to its alliance with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in Telangana in 2018.

The speculation of Sharmila merging her party with the Congress have been doing rounds for the last few weeks but the YSRTP leader denied media reports that she was going to be appointed as president of Congress in the state.

Sharmila, sister of the Chief Minister and YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) president Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, also denied receiving any proposal for the Congress Rajya Sabha ticket from Karnataka.

The YSRTP leader made it clear that she was committed to the cause of Telangana and would continue to fight for the people of the region.

"I was always in Telangana and will be in Telangana till my last breath. My future lies in Telangana and with its people," she said.

Sharmila has already declared that she will contest from Palair constituency in Khammam district.

With inputs from IANS