Hyderabad: Senior Congress leader and former Rajya Sabha member Dharmapuri Srinivas passed away at the age of 75. According to the reports, he breathed his last at 3 am on Saturday at his residence in Hyderabad following a cardiac arrest.
Srinivas, commonly known as DS, hailed from Nizamabad district and had a distinguished political career. He served as PCC president and minister within the Congress party. Following the bifurcation of the state, he joined the BRS in 2015 and was elected to the Rajya Sabha. Later, he returned to the Congress. DS is survived by two sons; his eldest, Dharmapuri Arvind, is currently the BJP’s Nizamabad MP, and his elder son Sanjay previously served as Nizamabad mayor.
Born on September 27, 1948, DS completed his degree from Nizam’s College and first entered politics as the Nizamabad Urban MLA on a Congress ticket in 1989. He also won the 1999 and 2004 elections. He held the positions of Minister of Rural Development and I&PR from 1989 to 1994 and Minister of Higher Education, Urban, and Land Ceiling from 2004-2008. He served as PCC president during the 2004 and 2009 elections, actively participating in the TRS-Congress alliance and working with YSR to bring the party to power.
Known as a loyalist of Sonia Gandhi, DS had close ties with senior leaders, including Pranab Mukherjee. From 2013 to 2015, he was a member of the Legislative Council, continuing as the leader of the opposition in the council after the formation of Telangana state. In 2018, he resigned from Congress and joined TRS after being denied a chance to become an MLC for a second term. He served as a TRS Rajya Sabha member from 2016 to 2022, later breaking away from the party and rejoining Congress.