Hyderabad:The 76-year-old, who led the Congress and held a ministerial position in undivided Andhra Pradesh, breathed his last at his residence around 3 a.m., according to family sources. Known as DS, he had been in poor health for the past few years following a brain stroke.
He is survived by his wife and two sons. His younger son, Dharampuri Arvind, is a BJP MP from Nizamabad, while his elder son, Dharampuri Sanjay, had previously served as the Mayor of Nizamabad. Srinivas had been at the helm of the Congress in undivided Andhra Pradesh when it regained power in 2004.
He had led the Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee twice and had also held a ministerial position in Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy’s Cabinet. In 2014, Srinivas switched allegiance to the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (now Bharat Rashtra Samithi) after it formed the first government in the newly formed Telangana state.
He was appointed as a special advisor to the government and later became a Rajya Sabha member in 2016. Ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Srinivas faced accusations of engaging in anti-party activities as he allegedly supported his son Arvind's BJP affiliation. Subsequently, he distanced himself from active politics. On March 26, 2023, Srinivas and his son Sanjay re-joined the Congress.
Accompanied by his son, Srinivas visited the party office in a wheelchair and officially rejoined the party in the presence of then Telangana Congress in-charge Manikrao Thakare and state Congress Chief A. Revanth Reddy. The following day, a statement was issued on Srinivas' behalf refuting claims of rejoining the Congress, stating that he had only accompanied his son to the party office.
Srinivas had initially joined the Congress in 1989 and was elected to the Assembly from Nizamabad Urban constituency the same year, subsequently becoming a Minister. He was re-elected as an MLA in 1999 and 2004. Throughout his political career, Srinivas held various ministerial positions, including Minister for Rural Development, Information and Public Relations from 1989 to 1994, and Minister for Higher Education and Urban Land Ceiling from 2004 to 2008.
While leading the Congress to victory in 2004 and 2009, he faced defeat in his Assembly constituency in 2009. Additionally, Srinivas served as a Member of the Legislative Council between 2013 and 2015.