YS Sharmila Is The New Andhra Congress Chief

Two weeks after joining the Congress, YS Sharmila was appointed the state chief of Andhra. She has replaced R Gidugu Rudra Raju who resigned from the post on Monday.

"Congress president has appointed Y S Sharmila Reddy as the president of the Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee with immediate effect," an official announcement by the party said.

The grand old party also announced the appointment of outgoing PCC President Raju as the special invitee to the Congress Working Committee. It has to be noted that his tenure was cut short by 13 months.

YS Sharmila, the sister of Andhra Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, founder of YSR Telangana Party, formally joined the Congress on January 4. She merged her party with the Congress in the presence of party president Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Rahul Gandhi.

"Today, I am very happy to be merging the YSR Telangana party into the Congress party. It gives me immense joy that the YSR Telangana Party is going to be a part of the Indian National Congress from today onwards," YS Sharmila had said after merging the YSR Telangana Party into the Congress.

Her entry to Congress is expected to strengthen the Congress party and reports claim that over 10 MLAs are willing to quit the ruling YSRCP to join the Congress.

Since the 2014 elections, the Congress, which was once a formidable force in Andhra Pradesh, witnessed a decline in performance. In 2014, it secured zero seats with a vote share of 2.8 per cent, and in 2019, the party's performance further diminished to a mere 1.2 per cent of votes, falling below the count of votes received for NOTA.