Sharmila's absence raises eyebrows - TeluguPeople.com News

HYDERABAD: At a time when speculation is rife that differences were growing between siblings on inheriting the legacy of their father the late YS Rajasekhara Reddy, his daughter Sharmila keeping away from the party's crucial state executive meeting has become a subject in private discussions among party workers.

Monday's was the first state executive meeting of the party after Jagan came out of jail on bail.

With Sharmila keeping away from the meeting, rumour mills are working overtime that the differences between brother and sister have widened and power struggle has begun within the family.

Though news of the cold war between the two was in the air for quite sometime, it never came out so openly.

Differences are reported to have cropped up between brother and sister after the latter set her eyes on Kadapa Lok Sabha seat which Jagan Mohan Reddy wanted to allot to his cousin Avinash Reddy, since himself would be contesting for Assembly from Pulivendula.

Sometime ago, party leader Balineni Srinivasa Reddy said YSRC candidate for Kadapa LS seat in 2014 general elections would be Avinash Reddy and that if Sharmila is keen on contesting for Lok Sabha, she can choose any other constituency she likes in AP.

Though party leaders are trying to cover the absence of Sharmila saying she had taken the reins of the party in the absence of Jagan, and as he is back now, there is no need for her to indulge in the affairs of the party.

They also say she was a member of YSR's family and that she had no position in the party as such. Therefore, there was no need for her to take part in the deliberations at the party state executive committee, they say.

Since Jagan Mohan Reddy came out on bail, Sharmila had stopped attending party affairs and is even keeping away from crucial meetings of the party. She did not turn up at the Samaikya Sankharavam at LB Stadium, organised recently.

This particular executive meeting is being considered very crucial for the party as it was taking palce ahead of general elections next year. Sharmila did not bother to be with Jagan Mohan Reddy when the latter, after his release form prison, went to Idupulapaya and paid homage to his father.

Now, she skipped the crucial extended general body meting, which raised the eyebrows in party circles. In the absence of Jagan, Sharmila was able to take up party programmes and attract a large number of people across the state. Her padayatra has attracted a lot of attention and had made her a household name in the state.

Party workers were expecting her to take up a larger role in the party, but after Jagan's release from jail, she started keeping away from party affairs.

However, Jagan Mohan Reddy loyalists feel that the differences between the two are a media creation, intended to damage the party.