YS Sharmila, Telangana's X-factor, dares KCR to join her in padayatra; 'gifts' shoe box, leaves bill inside

Hyderabad, Feb 02: YS Sharmila, the chief of the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Telangana Party (YSTRP), on Thursday dared chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) to join Padayatra with her and know the public problems in Telangana.

Speaking to the media at her residence in Hyderabad, Y S Sharmila said,''Today I challenge Telangana CM KCR to walk with me in Padyatra & we presented a shoe box to him. If there are no problems in the state, then I'll retire from politics but if this is not true, KCR has to resign and apologise to people of the state.''

"He says this is 'Bangaru Telangana' and there are no problems. Let him walk with me on the Padayatra. If there are no problems in the state as he says, then I'll retire from politics," she added. Sharmila further said that when her party tried to expose KCR's failures and corruption, her padayatra was ruthlessly attacked.

Daughter of former united Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Dr YS Rajasekhar Reddy, and sister of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, Sharmila has set out to carve an independent political future in the youngest state of India after reportedly falling out with her brother. Sharmila, who was previously a homemaker, has been actively participating in various social and political causes for a long time, and her decision to enter politics was highly anticipated by her supporters.

Setting out in padayatra of Telangana, Sharmila has been on a collision course with the ruling TRS and its chief minister KCR who succeeded in achieving statehood and retaining power for the second time on the anti-outsider, read as anti-Andhra, plank.

Initially, Sharmila's entry in Telangana politics was seen by some quarters as having KCR's tacit approval in an apparent bid to split the Reddy community vote, affecting the Congress in particular, and indirectly strengthening the TRS' position in the polls.

But as she criss-crossed Telangana state, touching more than 65 Assembly constituencies and 3500 kms, Sharmila's distinctly anti-TRS stance coupled with the positive response she garnered during the walkathon, seemed to have unnerved the ruling party which is aiming for a third shot at power in the Assembly elections due in 2023.