Behind a Telangana Congress U-turn, an ailing father and two aspiring sons

Dharmapuri Srinivas’s sons D Arvind and D Sanjay

A cricketer who represented Hyderabad in the Ranji Trophy in the under 19, 21, and 25 categories, Arvind entered politics ahead of the 2019 general elections. He was fielded by the BJP from the prestigious Nizamabad seat against then incumbent MP K Kavitha, the daughter of KCR, the Telangana Chief Minister, and registered a shock win by over 70,000 votes.

Riding on a wave of dissent among turmeric farmers regarding crop pricing, Arvind promised the setting up of a Turmeric Board in Nizamabad in his campaign.

Arvind is hopeful of a second term in the 2024 polls, and as a long shot, of a Cabinet berth if the BJP performs well in the coming Assembly elections in the state.

However, things have not gone smoothly for Arvind since that 2019 high. In February 2020, the Centre had set up a regional spices board office instead of the turmeric board he promised. Amid reports of growing resentment among turmeric farmers, Arvind insists the regional spice board has done “good work to address their concerns”, and ensured “good profits” for commercial crop farmers.

Arvind’s father’s return to a rival party, as he tries to maintain his hold on the constituency, will hardly help his cause.

But then there is his brother Sanjay, 50, who sees the forthcoming elections as the last chance of his political revival. Sanjay had followed father Srinivas into the Congress at a young age and became the first mayor of the Nizamabad Municipal Corporation in 2006. He later followed Srinivas into the TRS after the creation of Telangana. His father went on to be nominated to the Rajya Sabha, but Sanjay did not get a ticket.

Ahead of the December 2018 elections, Sanjay was booked, including under the SC/ST Act, after 11 women students of a college run by him accused him of sexual harassment. While a local court later acquitted him of all the charges, Sanjay’s political career came to a standstill.

In July 2021, Sanjay made an attempt to return to Congress and was welcomed by current Telangana Congress chief A Revanth Reddy, but the move did not come to fruition. After that, he remained in the shadows until he joined the Congress along with his father last week.

Unlike Arvind who got a ready opportunity due to the turmeric farmers’ anger, Sanjay needs his father’s support if he wants to win. Srinivas still holds a lot of clout among the powerful Munneru Kapu community, and even Arvind needs their support to win.

After his father’s return to the Congress, Arvind distanced himself from Srinivas. “He is a senior Congressman to the core. I am from the BJP. I have not discussed this matter with him at all. He took the decision on his own.” Citing his health, Arvind added: “It is not the time for him to come to politics.”

Adding to the drama, on March 27, a day after Srinivas had announced he was rejoining the Congress, his wife D Vijayalakshmi sent a resignation letter on his behalf to the Telangana PCC. She echoed Arvind, saying “it was not the time for politics for her husband as his health was not good”.

A few hours later, Srinivas himself wrote to AICC in-charge Manikrao Thakre saying he was resigning from the party because of his health.

Later, Sanjay alleged: “My father’s resignation letter is fake. He was forced to sign some document, which he was not aware of. I am worried about my father’s health after the BJP MP’s threat calls to him.”

A Telangana Congress leader told The Indian Express that Srinivas “may have become emotional after watching Rahul Gandhi being disqualified from Parliament and may have been advised by Sanjay to approach the Congress party again”. They added that he is “hoping for a ticket as he is well-regarded in the Congress”.