HYDERABAD: Exactly three days after his strong rebuttal of news reports about his possible return to Congress, TRS Rajya Sabha member and senior politician D Srinivas on Tuesday hit headlines again.
An advertisement given by Srinivas’ younger son Aravind in some newspapers, on the occasion of Independence Day, praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the skies by describing him as a “most efficient” and “selfless” leader India has got after 70 years of independence, is creating ripples in the state’s ruling party.
As Arvind, a businessman preferred to disclose his profound love for Modi openly ahead of BJP national president Amit Shah’s visit to the state from September 10 to 12, TRS leaders are trying to decode the signals sent by him.For now, Aravind is looking after his family-owned businesses while his elder brother and former Nizamabad city mayor Sanjay is politically inactive in the pink party.
The talk in TRS circles is that D Srinivas, who had joined the party after holding the state Congress president post for two terms in the then undivided state, has been sidelined in TRS. Though Srinivas and his close aides claim that Aravind gave that advertisement without his father’s consent, political observers see this as an indication that the seasoned politico’s family might lean towards the BJP which is scouting for influential politicos to carry its flag in the state in the run-up to the 2019 elections.
According to sources, BJP state leadership has zeroed in on some of the prominent political figures in other parties, including the ruling TRS, in order to woo them into its fold so as to transform the party into a strong political force in the state by next polls.
As Srinivas hails from the influential Munnuru Kapu caste and maintains good rapport with key leaders in other political parties too, the BJP leadership is said to be making efforts to poach him.
When contacted, Srinivas told Express, “I am in no way concerned with the advertisement given by my son. He is not a kid to receive orders from me. One thing I can say clearly is that he has been an ardent admirer of Modi. He used to send greetings to Modi when the latter was the CM of Gujarat. But, whatever happens, I am not going to leave TRS. I will remain a staunch follower of CM K Chandrasekhar Rao. I don’t have any plans to join any other party,” the veteran leader said.