Talks on merger with Congress in final stage, decision after meeting cadre says Sharmila

HYDERABAD: YSRTP President YS Sharmila on Saturday made it clear that any decision on merging her party with the Congress would be taken only after eliciting the opinion of her party workers.

Speaking to media in Hyderabad after paying homage to her father YS Rajasekhara Reddy, she said that she met the senior leaders of the Congress party, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi and expressed her desire to end the corrupt rule of K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) in Telangana. “I understood the problems faced by the people of Telangana during my 3,800 days of ‘Padayatra’. The Government ignored the real issues that matter to the common man and resorted to rampant corruption. This Government is running on the revenue generated by selling liquor,” Sharmila said.

The talks with the Congress were deep and meaningful with the central idea of dethroning KCR Government in Telangana, she said. “However few people who I consider as my own are opposing my move. But I will stand strong and also will see that those who worked with me all these days will also stand tall,” Sharmila pointed out.

Recalling her meeting with Sonia Gandhi, Sharmila said that she brought up the issue of the then Congress Government including the name of her father YS Rajasekhara Reddy in an FIR in disproportionate assets case. “When I said this to Sonia, she reacted by saying that she felt the same way when her late husband Rajiv Gandhi’s name was added to an FIR after his death,” Sharmila said.

Sonia questioned me how could I believe that my father’s name was included in the FIR at the behest of the Gandhi family, Sharmila said. “Gandhi's family still loves my father and I have respect for them, that is why I went for talks. Every human should have mercy in their hearts, forgive and move forward,” she added.