Hyderabad: YSR Telangana Party (YSRTP) president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s sister, YS Sharmila, is set to merge her party with the Congress on January 4, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. The decision follows months of speculation over such a move. The YSRTP did not contest the state elections in Telangana later last year, and chose to support the Congress, which stormed to power in the state.

Sharmila held a meeting with her followers and party leaders at her Lotus Pond residence in Hyderabad on Tuesday. People familiar with the discussions said that she told the meeting that she would leave for New Delhi on Wednesday evening and join the Congress in the national capital on Thursday in the presence of the party’s top leadership including president Mallikarjun Kharge and former chiefs Sonia and Rahul Gandhi.

Speaking to reporters in Kaada district, Sharmila confirmed her meeting with Congress leadership. “I am going to meet the top leaders of the Congress high command on January 4 and join the party. I shall give clarity on my role by Wednesday evening,” she said.

On Sharmila’s role in the party, YSRTP general secretary Tudi Devender Reddy said: “She is going to play an important role in the Congress. She has assured all those who had been supporting her all these days that they will also get important positions in the party.”

Another party leader said the that the Congress has asked Sharmila to take up the reins of the Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) and lead the party from the front in the upcoming assembly and Lok Sabha elections. “She was also offered a Rajya Sabha ticket from Karnataka besides an important position in the All-India Congress Committee (AICC),” he said.

Congress leaders were yet to confirm the details of their talks or the role planned for Sharmila.

To be sure, the Congress has been struggling in Andhra Pradesh in recent years and could not win a single seat in the 2019 assembly polls. While Jagan’s YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) is in power, the Telugu Desam Party, led by former CM N Chandrababu Nadu, is the principal opposition in the state.

Speculation over the merger were fuelled in recent weeks by some disgruntled YSRCP MLAs suggested they may switch to the Congress if Sharmila gets a prominent role in the party’s state unit.

YSRCP MLA from Mangalagiri Alla, Ramakrishna Reddy, who resigned from the party recently, announced that he would go with Sharmila if she takes up a senior responsibility in the Congress. “Around a dozen MLAs who left the Congress during the 2014 assembly elections and joined the YSRCP are in touch with the Congress. They might join the party soon if Sharmila joins the party,” APCC president Gidugu Rudraraju said.

On Tuesday, Sharmila thanked Ramakrishna Reddy for deciding to continue his political journey with her.

Sharmila and Jagan’s father, YS Rajasekhara Reddy, or YSR, was a prominent Congress leader who served as chief minister of Andhra Pradesh from 2004 to 2009. He will killed in a helicopter crash while still in office.

Sharmila floated YSRTP on July 8, 2021 over differences with her brother. Her party has, therefore, never been tested electorally.

When contacted, senior YSRCP leader YV Subba Reddy, was is also related to Jagan and Sharmila, said: “During the Telangana elections itself, there was a talk that she would be joining the Congress. So, there is nothing surprising about it.” He added that the move will not dent Jagan, who will return to power for a second term riding on the welfare and developmental programmes being implemented in the state.