New Delhi: YSRTP founder and president YS Sharmila on Friday said her party will fight the 2023 Telangana assembly polls on its own and contest all 119 seats in the state.
Alleging "misrule" in Telangana, the younger sister of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy also said that this prompted her to float the Yuvajana Shramika Rythu Telangana Party in July last year.
"We will go solo and contest every single seat in Telangana. We will not ally with the BJP or other parties," Sharmila told reporters.
The YSRTP was established to work for the people of Telangana and it has nothing to do with the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), Sharmila said. The YSRCP is led by her brother Jagan Mohan Reddy.
"I have grown up in Telangana. I am married here. My son and daughter were born here. I belong to this state and my future is here. I do not know why people thought it was weird when I floated a party in Telangana," she said.
Asked how the YSRTP will meet poll-related expenses, Sharmila said, "Money is not the only force that can win elections. People are looking for hope. K Chandrashekar Rao (TRS chief) came to power when there was no alternative. Now, I am that alternative." Since October last year, the YSRTP president has been on a padayatra to connect with the people and discuss their problems, and so far, she has covered 2,500 km in five districts in Telangana.
On the possibility of getting support from her brother in the assembly polls, Sharmila said," I did (campaign) for him more than my capacity and I do not expect him to do the same...My mother's support and blessings are with me." Sharmila had campaigned for her brother for the Andhra Pradesh elections.
The YSRTP president was in the national capital to meet CBI Director Subodh Kumar Jaiswal and seek a probe into alleged irregularities in the Rs 1.20 lakh crore Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project in Telangana.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)