Congress leader YS Sharmila called on Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday, January 13 and invited him for her son’s wedding which is scheduled for next month.

After the meeting, Sharmila told media persons that she invited Naidu and his family members and he accepted the invitation. She also recalled the relationship Naidu shared with her father, former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy.

She asked media persons to not view the invitation as a political move. The statement was made in view of the fact that her brother, AP CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and Naidu are political rivals in the upcoming Andhra assembly elections. 

Sharmila also mentioned that on Christmas, she sent sweets to not just Naidu and his son Lokesh, but also to Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leaders KT Rama Rao (KTR), Kavitha and Harish Rao. 

On January 3, Sharmila joined the Congress party at a programme in New Delhi in the presence of All India Congress Committee (AICC) president Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Rahul Gandhi. She merged her own YSR Telangana Party (YSRTP) with the Congress.

The Congress is yet to give any position to Sharmila but she has expressed her willingness to take up any responsibility including the post of party president in Andhra Pradesh.

While joining the Congress party, Sharmila had stated that making Rahul Gandhi the Prime Minister was the dream of her late father and she would work towards fulfilling the same.