Recently, YSR Congress Party leader and sister of YS Jaganmohan Reddy, Sharmila Reddy near to complete her 3000 kilometer padyatra in Andhra Pradesh. INN talked during her shot stay in a village during her last leg of padyatra, near Hyderabad. Excerpts:
Leaders from other parties call you a novice with no political acumen, an accidental politician and so on. Yet, you are on the last leg of your 3,000 km walkathon, a big feat. How did all this start?
The idea was my brother’s. He wanted to undertake the padyatra. Given the circumstances, he couldn’t make it. So, I offered to do it. It was important that somebody from the family did it. People are suffering. The Congress government has let people down. This is the government that my dad brought up. They have forgotten that. It was important that we tell the people that there are those of us who still care; that we will bring back dad’s era. To give them hope. That’s why I stepped in.
From an absolutely cocooned, comfort zone to hitting the streets the way you have… The shift is too extreme, some would say. How has it been?
I have adapted myself. Initially, I had some teething problems, but I am doing good. I had health issues; fatigue would get to me. I couldn’t tolerate the sun, the leaders, their egos. Of course, by now, they know what to expect of me. I’m not the kind who would entertain all of them all the time. They know I’m not here for the leaders. I’m here for the people. It has probably sunk in now.
Have you begun to assert yourself when it comes to senior leaders, handling their opinions and egos?
I don’t give in at all. But I do try to accommodate their views as much as possible.
Are they patronising?
The leaders pamper me as much as possible. They do think I have adapted to the political scenario very well. They think I’m doing a great job. They are impressed with my speeches. They think I’m taking on the Congress and the TDP really well. They are very excited about it all.
On the ground, you must be interacting with people; the poorest of the poor, at times. What problems have you identified?
Agriculture contributes to 60 percent of the people’s livelihood. This sector has been totally neglected. Dad did everything possible for the upliftment of farmers. He gave seven hours of free power, water, minimum support price (MSP), input subsidies, and compensation whenever necessary. He made sure that farmers are taken care of. He made sure that debts taken for availing power were waived off. Interests on farm loan were waived off. Once he even waived off their loans. He put in a lot of effort with the Centre to get funds for it. Because of his efforts, people in five states have benefited.
You are talking about the UPA- 1 farm loan waiver package of around Rs 70,000 crore.
Yes. People can see the contrast now. They see that there’s no seven hours of power supply these days. There’s drought — no water. There’s no MSP. The cost of agricultural inputs has gone up. For example, a bottle of potassium that used to cost Rs 400 now costs Rs 1,300. The MSP hasn’t gone up accordingly. You will find that every farmer is in debt, incurring losses. There’s suffering on a massive scale.
Then there are problems that women face. Dad made sure that women get loans. Poor students would get complete fee reimbursement, which would give them the confidence to finish their courses. The incumbent government has set new limitations stating that a student ought to get an M-Centre rank above 10,000 and should have studied till Class X in a government school, to qualify for these reimbursements.
It’s more than evident that the current Congress government does not want to carry on these schemes. They removed some 133 ailments from the Arogyasri list, which was a boon for the poor. Several lakhs of people benefited from Arogyasri. Sanitation is also a big issue. Something needs to be done. Dad had made sure that Rs 10,000 is given as subsidy for people to build toilets. This happened in the latter half of his regime, therefore there aren’t many beneficiaries.
Is a tie-up with the BJP a complete anathema to the YSR Congress? Jagan has stated earlier that he’s not willing to ally with the BJP.
The BJP’s ideology is different from ours. To become a strong force, the BJP will have to work towards proving that they are not anti-minority. Even though I may not be the right person to say it, as a citizen I can say that they should do things to show that they are not anti-minority. They should come up with reservations for minorities or something. If they change their ideology, then perhaps… I cannot tell you now who we will go with. The party has to take the decision. Personally, I think the basic ideology of the BJP has to change.
On the Internet, there’s plenty of nasty stuff about you. A lot of vilification. They say you are a Christian missionary out to destroy Indian culture…
I deliberately keep away from all that. How can I destroy Indian culture? I’m a secular person. My faith is my personal business. I respect others’ religion. I go to mosques and temples. My dad taught us to respect all religions.
When Digvijaya Singh recently said that Jagan’s DNA is the same as the Congress DNA, you shot back saying Jagan’s DNA is YSR’s DNA and let there be no mistake about it. Won’t you ever enter into an alliance with the Congress? What if the circumstances demand it?
That’s not a question for me to answer. However, about Digvijaya Singh’s remarks though; YSR served the Congress for 30 years. He brought them back to power twice, not only in the state but also at the Centre. Then they put his name on the FIR. They backstabbed him. How dare they say that Jagan’s DNA is the Congress DNA? Six hundred and sixty people died of heart attack when dad died.
Just because Jagan wanted to visit every family, pay respect to those mourning, he was made to go through a lot. They harassed him, suffocated him so much that we had to leave the party. Jagan stuck to his word. He did not stop his yatra. Backstabbing is the DNA of the Congress and credibility is the DNA of Jagan Mohan Reddy. Where’s the comparison? After doing all this to our family, they say our DNA is the same!
What do you make of the things on the ground right now?
I feel very sad. The unequal distribution of wealth, resources and opportunities is just not fair. Sometimes, I think communism should be there in India for 20 years until everything is set right.
If Jagan doesn’t get out of prison, will you be the CM candidate?
Why? Aren’t there other leaders in YSR Congress? I don’t think I’m cut out for politics. I never thought I’m cut out for politics. I enjoy the connect with the people. I’m fine with what I’m doing right now.
What if circumstances demand that you step into active politics? If your brother wants…
If my brother needs it, I can do anything for him. If he think it’s necessary, yes. Otherwise, I don’t think it’s necessary that I step in. I have never seen myself as a politician. My brother will be a brilliant politician — probably better than my dad.
