The newly appointed Andhra Pradesh Congress chief, Y S Sharmila, faces an uphill task leading the beleaguered state unit that did not win a single MLA or MP seat in the past two elections — 2014 or 2019. A number of senior leaders appear to be unhappy with her rapid elevation — just days after she merged her party with the Congress — and may not be willing to cooperate with her.

“It is good to have a new face in the party, and Sharmila is also the daughter of the late Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, but whether she will receive the cooperation and support from other party leaders is a big question,” a top state leader said on Wednesday.

Busy with arrangements for her son’s wedding festivals, Sharmila is yet to formally take charge of the post.

“In general, everyone is welcoming her into the party. But will there be any change in the fortunes of the Andhra Congress unit? Not many think so. The party’s vote share may go up by 2-3% due to Sharmila, but any hopes of winning are far-fetched,” said former Andhra Congress chief Sake Sailajanath. However, as Sailajanath said, at the very least, there is a buzz about the Congress now, which otherwise no one was talking about in the state.

Former Congress MP G V Harsha Kumar openly expressed his reservations about Sharmila. “She has said she belongs to Telangana, but she failed as a political leader there. What can she do here? I am asking all Andhra Pradesh Congress leaders to oppose her elevation. She has no place in Andhra Pradesh.”

The biggest hope of Congress leaders is that with Sharmila leading the state unit, they can lay a claim to former CM YSR’s political legacy, denting YSRCP leader Jagan Mohan Reddy’s sole inheritance of it. “Whether she will be able to reach out to the people as YSR’s successor in the Congress party — which the former CM once headed and led to power in 2004 — is to be seen,” one Congress member said.

In five years as CM, Jagan has consolidated his hold on YSR’s legacy by naming all welfare schemes of his government in his father’s name.

Sharmila, who is likely to visit the Congress headquarters only next week, is hoping her son’s wedding festivities will be a showcase of her political muscle. The celebrations begin with an engagement function on Thursday, include a destination wedding in Rajasthan, and wrap up with a reception on February 24, for which the guest list includes almost all political leaders across Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, including brother Jagan, Telugu Desam supremo N Chandrababu Naidu, Telangana CM A Revanth Reddy and Deputy CM Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, former Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao; former BRS minister T Harish Rao, Congress MLA G Vivekanand, Telangana Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan, former Telangana BJP MLA Etela Rajender, Congress MLA Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy, and senior Congress leaders, including the Gandhi family.

Several filmstars belonging to Andhra, Telangana and Karnataka, sportspersons and business tycoons of the area, as well as heads of various organisations have also received the invite.

Sharmila’s mother Y S Vijayalakshmi, who is seen to be on the side of the daughter in the power tussle with Jagan, distributed invitation cards to all the YSR family members at the family turf Pulivendula.