Sharmila-led YSRTP withdraws from Telangana Assembly poll fray, to support Congress

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], November 3 (ANI): The YSR Telangana Party (YSRTP) chief YS Sharmila on Friday said she will not contest the November 30 Assembly polls in Telangana and has decided to support the Congress.
Addressing a press briefing here, the YSRTP chief said she has decided to extend her support to the Congress to prevent a split of votes in the polls that might benefit Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao.
"As you know the Telangana State stands at a crucial juncture with elections to the State Assembly scheduled on the last day of this month. People of Telangana are vexed with misrule of KCR and are all set to topple his draconian regime. In these nine-and-half years, people have witnessed how Telangana's wealth has been siphoned off due to the greed and tyranny of one family. A rich State at formation is now burdened with heavy debt, due to the massive corruption of KCR and his cronies," Sharmila said.
Sharmila, who is the younger sister of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy alleged that with more and more revelations on the corruption of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, there was a dire need for all like-minded parties to put up a joint effort in the best interest of the people of Telangana.
"And to support this cause, the YSR Telangana Party has taken a very important decision. In scripting the imminent defeat of BRS, it is felt that the Congress party stands a chance, and any division of anti-incumbency votes at this stage will be a hurdle in dethroning KCR," Sharmila said.
"As per many surveys and ground reports, it has been felt that our participation in the Assembly elections will directly impact the vote share of Congress in many constituencies. Therefore, YSR Telangana Party has decided to make the sacrifice of not contesting in the Telangana Assembly elections. I am ok to take this all-important decision to step back in the larger interest of the state and to ensure the bigger cause of people is addressed," she added further.
Elections for the 119-member Telangana Assembly will be held on November 30 and counting of votes will take place on December 3.
Telangana is set to witness an intriguing triangular contest between the BRS, Congress, and BJP.
In the previous Assembly elections in 2018, the BRS won 88 of the 119 seats, hogging 47.4 per cent of the total vote share. The Congress finished a distant second with 19 seats and a vote share of 28.7 per cent. (ANI)