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YSRTP Merger with Congress: The Merger Stories of Regional Parties in Telugu States

7 months ago
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YS Sharmila Join Congress

YS Sharmila, merged her newly formed party, YSRTP with Congress today. After the Telangana polls, there were rumors in the political corners about YSRTP being merged with Congress, today the rumors have proven to be true.

A video went viral during the initial days of the launch of YSRTP by YS Sharmila in Telangana. In the video, a youth requested YS Sharmila never to step back and to be with the people of Telangana forever. Sharmila gave assurance, saying, ‘I will stand for you, and I will make you rise.’ However, just three years after this, the scenario has changed. Sharmila has now joined Congress to work in Andhra Pradesh.

She is travelled to Delhi on Thursday (December 4th) to meet Congress heavyweights Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. Sharmila announced the official merger of her party in their presence. With this meeting, clarity might emerge regarding Sharmila’s role in Congress—either she will be appointed as APCC president, or she will receive the AICC general secretary post, or become a Rajya Sabha member. Let’s delve into the reasons behind YSRTP’s merger into Congress and explore the merger stories of other regional parties in Telugu states.

Why YSRTP merged with Congress?

Three years ago, YS Sharmila Reddy, the daughter of the late former CM YS Rajasekhar Reddy and sister of the current AP CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, entered direct politics in 2021 with her own party called the Yuvajana Shramika Rythu Telangana Party (YSRTP), sounding similar to her brother Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSRCP. When speculations arose about Sharmila’s political entry, many expected her to enter Andhra politics only. Surprisingly, she entered the Telangana political landscape with the slogan ‘Rajanna Rajyam,’ claiming herself as the daughter-in-law of Telangana with the right to engage in politics there.

In Telangana, Sharmila aggressively engaged in politics, targeting the then-ruling party BRS, its chief KCR, and working president KTR. During a press meet where she was questioned about KTR, then IT minister, Sharmila even asked, “Who is KTR?” Now that KTR is in opposition in Telangana, Sharmila has decided to move to Andhra Pradesh.

Although Sharmila did padayatra with the name ‘Praja Prasthanam’ and hunger strikes against the unemployment issue, she failed to gain public support. Despite confidently claiming she would come into power when establishing her party, she did not even contest a single seat in the elections. Being a Reddy and having the legacy of the late YSR, she thought she could emerge as a leader in Telangana, but her calculations were completely off.

Before the Telangana elections, she approached the Congress high command to merge her party. However, they believed that Sharmila, hailing from Andhra, joining Telangana Congress ahead of elections might send negative signals to the Telangana public. Congress proposed that she work in Andhra Pradesh instead. Sharmila declined the proposal and decided to contest all 119 seats in Telangana but ended up supporting the Congress party and staying away from the contest. Finally, she has decided to quit the Telangana political landscape to join Congress in Andhra Pradesh.

Lakshmi Parvathi’s ‘NTR TDP’ and Harikrishna’s Anna-TDP

Just months after the ‘Telugu Desam Party’ came into power for third time, in Andhra Pradesh under the leadership of Nandamuri Taraka Ramarao, Chandrababu Naidu, who is the son-in-law of NTR and a minister in his cabinet, led a successful revolt, dethroning NTR from the CM seat.  Months after Naidu replaced NTR as chief minister, NTR died of a heart attack on January 18th, 1996.

After NTR’s demise, his second wife, Lakshmi Parvati, founded the ‘NTR Telugu Desam Party’ to challenge Naidu’s TDP. Except for Lakshmi Parvathi winning the 1996 by-poll in Pathapatnam assembly, this party has not achieved anything significant. In the 1996 Lok Sabha elections, NTR TDP got 32,49,267 votes, comprising 10.66%, but did not secure a single seat.

Later, the party gradually disappeared from the limelight. Lakshmi Parvati later joined Congress and shifted to YSRCP.

Anna-TDP: In 1999, NTR’s son Harikrishna established Anna-Telugu Desam Party, differing with Naidu’s TDP. However, Harikrishna’s party failed to impact politics at any point, and he eventually returned to Naidu’s ‘Telugu Desam Party’ in 2006.

Marri Chenna Reddy’s TPS, Indra Reddy’s Jai Telangana Party

Marri Chenna Reddy, the Congress leader from Telangana, founded the political party called ‘Telangana Praja Samithi’ on January 4th, 1971, with the demand for a separate Telangana State. In the 1971 Lok Sabha elections, TSP made a significant impact, winning 11 out of 14 seats in the Telangana region. However, just months later, Marri Chenna Reddy merged his party TSP into Congress on September 24th, 1971, as Congress had accepted the six-point formula for Telangana development.

Indra Reddy, who had worked with the Telugu Desam Party and Congress in the 1980s and 1990s, also established a party called ‘Jai Telangana Party’ on January 1st, 1998, for the separate Telangana cause. However, it did not sustain for long. Just a month after the formation of the party, it merged with Congress on February 1st, 1998, with the promise of supporting the demand for separating Telangana.

Also Read: From Tanguturi Prakasam to YS Jagan: Caste and Political Dynamics in Andhra Pradesh

Praja Rajyam Merger with Congress

Konidela Chiranjeevi, popularly known as Megastar, established his own party, Praja Rajyam, in 2008, just months before the 2009 general elections. Chiranjeevi believed he could become the chief minister, following in the footsteps of film industry leaders like NTR, MGR, and Jayalalitha. Despite attracting large crowds to Chiranjeevi’s rallies, the 2009 election results were disappointing for Praja Rajyam, as the party secured only 18 seats. Chiranjeevi himself was defeated in Palakollu but won in Tirupati

Unable to sustain his party’s momentum after the elections, Chiranjeevi returned to his film career. In 2011, facing challenges in running Praja Rajyam, he merged the party with the Congress. This move disappointed the Kapus, who had hoped for political power through Chiranjeevi’s leadership.

Several Telangana Parties.. Merger with Congress, BRS and BJP

Several parties emerged with the agenda of forming a separate Telangana state over time. Among them, Devender Goud’s ‘Nava Telangana Praja Party’ merged with Chiranjeevi’s ‘Praja Rajyam’, which later merged with the Congress. Telangana senior leader Nagam Janardhan Reddy established his own party, ‘Telangana Nagara Samithi,’ but later joined the BJP. Ale Narendra’s ‘Telangana Sadhana Samithi’ and Vijayashanti’s ‘Talli Telangana Party’ merged with the ‘Telangana Rashtra Samithi’ (TRS), now known as the BRS party. The Yuva Telangana Party, founded by Telangana activist Jitta Balakrishna Reddy, merged with the BJP.

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