Hyderabad, Jun 29 (IANS): Senior Congress leader and former Rajya Sabha member Dharampuri Srinivas passed away here early Saturday after prolonged illness.

Srinivas, 76, who headed the Congress and served as a Minister in undivided Andhra Pradesh, breathed his last at his residence around 3 a.m., family sources said.

The senior leader was not keeping good health for the last couple of years after suffering a brain stroke.

Popularly known as DS, he is survived by his wife and two sons. His younger son Dharampuri Arvind is BJP MP from Nizamabad while elder son Dharampuri Sanjay had served as Mayor of Nizamabad.

Srinivas was leading the Congress in undivided Andhra Pradesh when it returned to power in 2004.

He twice headed Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee and also served as a Minister in Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy's Cabinet.

Srinivas had switched loyalties to Talangana Rashtra Samithi (now Bharat Rashtra Samithi) after it formed the first government in the newly carved out Telangana state in 2014. He was rewarded with the post of special advisor to the government and later made him a Rajya Sabha member in 2016.

However, on the eve of 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the senior leader from Nizamabad faced allegations of anti-party activities.

It was alleged that he promoted his son Arvind who joined the BJP. Since then, Srinivas was staying away from active politics.

On March 26, 2023, Srinivas with his son Sanjay re-joined the Congress.

He had reached the party office in a wheelchair and joined the party in the presence of then Telangana Congress in-charge Manikrao Thakare and state Congress Chief A. Revanth Reddy.

The next day, a statement was released on behalf of Srinivas denying that he joined the Congress. It was claimed that he merely accompanied his son to the Congress office.

Srinivas had joined the Congress in 1989 and was elected to Assembly from Nizamabad Urban constituency the same year and became a Minister. He was elected as an MLA again in 1999 and 2004.

He served as Minister for Rural Development, and Information and Public Relations from 1989 to 1994 and as Minister for higher education and urban land ceiling from 2004 to 2008.

He was leading Congress when it came to power in 2004 and again in 2009 when it retained power. However, he suffered defeat in his Assembly constituency in 2009.

Srinivas had also served as Member of Legislative Council between 2013 and 2015.