The resignation of former Rajya Sabha member Dharmapuri Srinivas from the Telangana Congress on Monday within hours of returning to the party fold after a gap of eight years has exposed differences within his family, as both his sons are accusing each other of bringing pressure on the father.
His elder son, D Sanjay, a former mayor of Nizamabad, on Tuesday alleged that his father was facing harassment from his younger brother D Arvind, a Lok Sabha member of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from Nizamabad parliamentary constituency.
Sanjay told the reporters that his father had indeed joined the Congress party along with him at Gandhi Bhavan in the presence of several leaders including AICC in-charge of Telangana affairs Manikrao Thakre on Sunday. “But my younger brother Arvind has forced him to resign, since it would affect his political interests,” he said.
However, Arvind told the reporters in Nizamabad that his father was forcibly taken to Gandhi Bhavan and offered a Congress stole, while he was not even in a position to walk. “It was true that my father identified himself as a Congressman ideologically, but the party completely ignored him in troubled times. When he was sick, neither Sonia Gandhi nor Rahul Gandhi had spoken to him,” he said.
Srinivas, who served as Pradesh Congress Committee president twice during the combined Andhra Pradesh period, quit the party in 2015 a year after the formation of Telangana state in June 2014. He joined the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (previously Telangana Rashtra Samithi) and was made a Rajya Sabha member.
After his younger son Arvind joined the BJP and defeated chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s daughter K Kavitha in 2019 general elections, Srinivas was sidelined in the party. Though he continued as Rajya Sabha member of the BRS till 2022, he was kept away from the party activities.
On Sunday, Srinivas, along with his elder son Sanjay, went to Gandhi Bhavan in a wheelchair and extended support to the party. He said he was returning to the party fold to support Rahul Gandhi. Telangana PCC chief A Revanth Reddy termed Srinivas as a lucky mascot for the party, citing that the Congress came to power under his leadership twice.
But on Monday, a letter purported to have been written by Srinivas to AICC president Mallikharjun Kharge was released to the media stating that he had not joined the Congress, but had come to Gandhi Bhavan only to witness his son Sanjay joining the party.
“But the party leaders offered me the Congress stole and announced that I had joined the party, which is not correct. In view of my age and health conditions, I have been keeping away from active politics. If the Congress leadership thinks I have joined the party, please consider this letter as my resignation,” he purportedly said in the letter.
His wife, Vijayalaxmi, also released a video stating that he had resigned from the party and appealed to the Congress leaders not to use her husband for their political interests. Stating that Srinivas had already suffered a stroke, she asked the Congress leaders not to visit her house again.
Meanwhile, PCC vice-president G Niranjan wrote a letter to Hyderabad police commissioner CV Anand on Monday requesting him to provide security to Srinivas, expressing concern over the possible threat to his life from his own family members.
