Amid Jagan, Sharmila Rift, How Two Weddings Are Testing YSR Family Ties | Political Pulse News
Two weddings in the family of former Andhra Pradesh chief minister and Congress stalwart late Y S Rajasekara Reddy or YSR seem to be testing their familial ties and political loyalties.
At the centre of the row are ex-Andhra CM Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, YSR’s son and the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) president, and his sister Y S Sharmila, the president of Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC).
Both siblings have been estranged for the past several years. Sharmila had initially complained about not being given a political space in the YSRCP by Jagan. Later, she also accused her brother of allegedly denying her proper share in the YSR family’s hereditary properties. The siblings had several spats in public in recent years, but their latest conflict seems to have deepened the divisions within the YSR clan.
The current row began after Sharmila sought permission from Jagan to use the YSR family’s sprawling Benglauru house complex, known as Yelahanka Palace, to host the reception and wedding of her daughter Anjili on November 25, who recently got engaged to an NRI S Ragurami Reddy.
Jagan wrote back to Sharmila, expressing his happiness over his niece’s wedding but raising objection to her use of the Yelahanka Palace for its reception, citing security concerns and privacy issues.
The correspondence between Jagan and Sharmila was leaked to the media, causing severe strains to relationships in the YSR clan. Family sources said that amidst calls for a “compromise” between the siblings initiated by their mother Y S Vijayalakshmi, both of them have dug in their heels.
Second wedding
The daughter of Y S Anil Reddy, a cousin of Jagan and Sharmila, is also getting married in November in Chennai. Anil Reddy is the son of Y S George Reddy, YSR’s brother, and is a founding member of the YSRCP, whose family has extensive business interests in Africa. The wedding of Anil Reddy’s daughter is scheduled for November 3-6 in Chennai.
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Their family members, including cousins, aunts and uncles, several of whom are NRIs, have started arriving in Hyderabad or Bengaluru and proceeding to Chennai, without meeting Sharmila, who was said to have been left out in the cold. Some of them also had a meeting at the YSR family’s home at Pulivendula, ahead of filing of nomination papers by the YSRCP candidates for the Andhra Pradesh local body elections, before heading to Chennai.
Family tension
Sharmila’s initial insistence on holding her daughter’s wedding at Yelahanka Palace has widened faultlines in the YSR clan, sources said.
“Jagan’s wife Bharati and their daughter live at Yelahanka Palace. Their second daughter who is completing studies abroad will also soon join them. When Jagan is not there, there is no security. Jagan is worried about the security and safety of his family if the place is opened for a wedding with many outside agencies involved. The larger family agrees with him, and is on his side,” sources said.
The Chennai wedding is also likely to become a show of strength for the YSR family. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and TVK supremo C Joseph Vijay is likely to attend this event besides heads of several prominent business families who have relations with the YSR family. Sharmila and her husband M Anil Kumar have started distributing wedding invitation cards for their daughter’s wedding too, although its venue may be shifted from Yelahanka Palace to a Hyderabad venue if Jagan sticks to his objections. Apart from Telangana CM A Revanth Reddy, Deputy CM Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, and Karnataka CM D K Shivakumar, and a host of prominent leaders, they have also invited the Tamil Nadu CM for the event. Some members of the YSR clan may however give it a miss. “It is becoming very awkward now,” said a family member.
