Sunil is born into a family of freedom fighters, where great grandfather Nukala Raghavaiah garu served as the first MLA after independence representing Gannavaram and won against Puchalpaly Sundaraiah garu and in the 1960s Thota Ramaswamy, was the Finance Minister of State. His maternal side, the Thota family of three generations have been in active politics in East Godavari and Krishna districts