Telangana will vote on November 30 and results will declared on December 3.
YSR Telangana Party chief YS Sharmila today said that she will not contest the upcoming assembly elections in Telangana, and has instead decided to support the Congress.
Ms Sharmila, the younger sister of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, said that her party is extending its support to the Congress to avoid a split of votes in the elections that might benefit Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao.
"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," Ms Sharmila said.
She said that her party has decided to make the "sacrifice" to end the "corrupt and anti-people rule" of BRS led by Mr Rao.
"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 said.
Telangana will vote on November 30 and results will be declared on December 3.
YS Sharmila met Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in September, after which she claimed "constructive discussions" had been taken at the meeting and warned K Chandrashekar Rao to expect defeat.
The daughter of a former Congress chief minister, YS Rajasekhar Reddy, Ms Sharmila started the YSRTP in 2021 to bring the YSR family, or 'Rajanna Rajyam' to the state - in which both she and her party are electorally untested. As part of her efforts, she went on a 3,800-km state-wide march.
"All my efforts are for Telangana. I am doing everything to improve the condition of the people, so they benefit from the formation of Telangana," she said after the Delhi trip.