Amidst uncertainty over the merger of YSR Telangana Party with the Congress, party president Y S Sharmila is expected to meet former Congress president Sonia Gandhi in Bengaluru next week, sources said.
According to these sources, Sharmila would be meeting Sonia, on the sidelines of the meeting of heads of various anti-BJP parties at Bengaluru on July 17 and 18. Apparently, Karnataka deputy chief minister D K Shivakumar had arranged the meeting of Sharmila with Sonia.
Sharmila, the sister of Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, would take a final call on the merger of YSRTP with the Congress only after discussing with Sonia Gandhi.
She has been on testing her political fortunes in Telangana, while the Telangana Congress leaders want her to shift the base to Andhra.
There is also a talk that Sharmila might defer her plans to join the Congress party or merge her party with it till the next assembly elections in Telangana, as Telangana PCC president A Revanth Reddy is resisting her plans fearing that it might affect the party chances in Telangana.
His apprehension is that if Sharmila merges her party with the Congress and contests from Telangana, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leaders would definitely use it to their advantage by whipping up Andhra Pradesh-Telangana sentiment.
That is precisely why Revanth and others want her to shift her base to Andhra, where she would get a lot of importance.
Alternatively, she can wait till the coming assembly elections in Telangana and once the Congress comes to power, she can contest the Lok Sabha elections on Congress ticket or even get the Rajya Sabha nomination.
But Sharmila, having toured nearly 4,000 km in Telangana and campaigned against the KCR government, is keen on staying back in Telangana.
She has promised the people that she will effectively implement all the welfare schemes introduced by her father Y S Rajasekhara Reddy.
At the same time, Sharmila wants to contest from Palair in Khammam. So, it is unlikely that she would defer her plans to join the Congress.
“It all depends on what Sonia tells her. If Sharmila doesn’t get a favourable response, she can even drop her plans and contest the elections on her own,” sources said.
