Congress on Tuesday appointed YS Sharmila, sister of Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy as the president of the state unit in a bid to revive the party and its fortunes ahead of the general elections.

The move came just two weeks after Sharmila merged her party, YSR Telangana Party with the Congress. The outgoing PCC chief Gidugu Rudra Raju who had resigned yesterday to make way for Sharmila, was appointed as the special invitee to the Congress Working Committee. AICC has just recently appointed Lok Sabha MP Manickram Tagore as the in-charge for AP Congress Committee.

The Andhra Pradesh Assembly polls will be held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls. It is going to be a bipolar contest between N Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP which is in alliance with Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena, and Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSRCP.

While the Congress was wiped out in AP post bifurcation, the BJP too has little presence but the latter is being wooed by both regional parties since it is in power at the Centre. Following the electoral victory in Telangana and Karnataka, Congress is hoping to revive the party’s fortune in AP with Sharmila’s appointment.

Issuing a press statement AICC general secretary KC Venugopal announced, “Congress president has appointed YS Sharmila Reddy as the President of the Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee with immediate effect. Congress president has also appointed Gidugu Rudra Raju, the outgoing PCC president as special invitee to the Congress Working Committee.”

Thanking Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and the Gandhis, Sharmila said “I promise to work faithfully towards rebuilding the party to its past glory in the state of Andhra Pradesh with total commitment and integrity.”

With the appointment of Sharmila, Congress is trying to invoke the legacy of her father and former chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy who had a formidable presence in AP politics. YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSRCP has completely usurped YSR’s legacy since its formation. Initially, Sharmila was not keen to take up the reins of the Congress in AP as it would directly pit her against brother YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. But she was convinced otherwise by the Congress leadership. Meanwhile, YS Jagan has publicly voiced his displeasure by accusing certain opposition party alliances of trying to break families apart.