YSR Telangana Party president Y S Sharmila on Tuesday confirmed that she got the invitation from the Congress high command to join the party and that she has decided to accept the invitation.
She is leaving for New Delhi on Wednesday and would formally merger her party with the Congress on January 4 in the presence of top Congress leaders including AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi.
She told the reporters at Idupulapaya, after paying tributes to her father late Y S Rajasekhar Reddy on the occasion of her son Y S Raja Reddy’s marriage that she had already decided to work with the Congress party long ago.
Interestingly, Sharmila attributed the victory of the Congress party led by chief minister A Revanth Reddy in the recent assembly elections in Telangana to her decision not to contest the elections.
“The YSRTP extended support to the Congress in the Telangana assembly elections, thereby playing a key role in bringing down the anti-democratic rule of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi led by K Chandrasekhar Rao,” she said.
Sharmila claimed that in as many as 31 assembly constituencies, the Congress had won with less than 10,000 votes majority.
“This is because the YSRTP did not contest the elections. Had our party candidates been in the fray, the Congress would have lost these seats,” she claimed.
She said the Congress high command had acknowledged the sacrifices made by the YSRTP and had shown gratitude to her party.
“The Congress top leaders have given value to our sacrifices and invited us to join their party. We have no objection to merge our party with the Congress,” she said.
Sharmila described that the Congress was the biggest secular party in the country and would provide security to each and every section of the society.
“That is why, we have decided to join the party,” she said.
“I will speak to the media in a couple of days and give you complete clarity on my plans,” Sharmila told reporters after the meeting with her party leaders.
YSRTP general secretary Tudi Devender Reddy, however, confirmed to reporters that Sharmila would be merging the party with the Congress very soon.
“She is going to play an important role in the AICC. She has assured that all those who had been supporting her all these days would also get important positions in the party,” Reddy said.
