Former Congress president of united Andhra Pradesh and former minister Dharmapuri Srinivas passed away in Hyderabad at 3 AM on Friday due to a heart attack. Dharmapuri Srinivas was also a Rajya Sabha MP from 2016 to 2022.
The three-time MLA was the Minister for Higher Education and Intermediate Education in the Rajashekhar Reddy government in 2009. He was one of the key figures who orchestrated the Congress's return to power in Andhra Pradesh in 2004 and 2009.
Dharampuri Srinivas, popularly known as DS, passed away after a prolonged period of ill health following a brain stroke he suffered a few years ago.
Srinivas is survived by his wife and two sons. His younger son, Dharampuri Arvind, is a BJP Member of Parliament from Nizamabad, while his elder son, Dharampuri Sanjay, has served as the Mayor of Nizamabad, as reported by IANS.
DS played a crucial role in the Congress party, leading it in undivided Andhra Pradesh when it came back to power in 2004. He twice headed the Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee and also served as a Minister in the Cabinet of Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy.
In 2014, following the formation of the Telangana state, Srinivas switched loyalties to the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (now Bharat Rashtra Samithi). He was appointed as a special advisor to the government and later made a Rajya Sabha member in 2016.
However, on the eve of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Srinivas faced allegations of anti-party activities, accused of promoting his son Arvind, who had joined the BJP. Consequently, he distanced himself from active politics.
On March 26, 2023, Srinivas and his son Sanjay rejoined the Congress. Despite his declining health, Srinivas arrived at the party office in a wheelchair and rejoined the Congress in the presence of then Telangana Congress in-charge Manikrao Thakare and state Congress Chief A. Revanth Reddy.
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