Now that YS Sharmila has launched her political party in Telangana, several questions are coming to the fore. Will she succeed where her brother failed? Will she be able to take on the might of the TRS and its boss KCR? How will she snatch the initiative from the Congress and the BJP? How will she manage the baggage of late YSR, who was a known opponent of the separate Telangana? There are no immediate answers as of now.
As for Sharmila, she will have to be very careful about what she speaks. She cannot make off-the-cuff remarks. She will have to think ten times before saying anything. She has to develop a think-tank of media professionals to identify the issues and decide on what Sharmila should say and should not say. The party does have a social media backup team. There are reports that some senior journalists are guiding her in public talks.
At the same time, she has to lure key leaders from various parties into her YSR Telangana Party. In fact, most political parties grow by luring talent from other parties. In fact, when TDP was launched, it attracted several key leaders from the Congress Party. Similarly, the TRS grew mainly because of the defections from other parties. As soon as the BJP did well in Dubbak and GHMC elections, a large number of leaders from the Congress and the TRS joined the political party. The Jana Sena is unable to grow as it has failed to attract talent from other parties.
Sharmila’s team too is trying to lure talent from other parties. In fact, they have already begun talking to leaders from Khammam, Warangal and Nizamabad. As of now, no leader seems to be interested in her party. Unless she gets some big names, her party would remain an also-ran. Let’s wait and see how she manages to get leaders from the other parties.