Pusapati Ashok Gajapathi Raju (born 26 June 1951) is an Indian politician and the former Union Minister for Civil Aviation in the

Narendra Modi Government The premiership of Narendra Modi began on 26 May 2014 with his swearing-in as the prime minister of India at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. He became the 14th Prime Minister of India, succeeding Manmohan Singh of the Indian National Congress. Modi' ...

. A scion of Royal family of Vizayanagram princely state, he is the younger son of the last Maharaja of

Vizianagram Vizianagaram is a city and the headquarters of Vizianagaram district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is central Eastern Ghats, about west of the Bay of Bengal and north-northeast of Visakhapatnam. The city has a population of 228,02 ...

. He was a member of Andhra Pradesh State legislature for over twenty five years and was a Minister in the Govt. of A.P., for thirteen years holding the portfolios of Commercial Tax, Excise, Legislative affairs, Finance, Planning and Revenue.

Personal life

Pusapati Ashok Gajapathi Raju comes from the

Pusapati Poosapati / Pusapati was the ruling clan of the Northern Andhra region, Vizianagaram. History The Pericchedi kings were ancestors of the Pusapati royal family who built Bezawada (Modern Vijayawada) off the river Krishna by 626 AD and an ...

royal family of the

Vizianagaram kingdom Vizianagaram is a city and the headquarters of Vizianagaram district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is central Eastern Ghats, about west of the Bay of Bengal and north-northeast of Visakhapatnam. The city has a population of 228,02 ...

. He is the son of Maharaja

Pusapati Vijayarama Gajapathi Raju Maharaja Pusapati Vijayrama Gajapati Raju D.Litt. was an Indian parliamentarian and philanthropist. He was the eldest son of Maharaja Alak Narayanadev Gajapathi Raju and Vidyavathi Devi of Vizianagaram estate in Andhra Pradesh. He was born at ...

, the last

Maharaja of Vizianagram Vizianagaram Estate was a zamindari of the Madras Presidency in India. The name is derived from its founder Raja Viziaram Raz (Vijayaram Raj) who established a sovereign kingdom by claiming independence from the Kingdom of Jeypore in 1711. It for ...

. His family is known for its philanthropy through its temples that include the famous

Simhachalam Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha temple, Simhachalam, also known as Sinhachala or Simanchala is a Hindu temple situated on the Simhachalam Hill Range,which is 300 metres above the sea level in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. It is dedicated to Vis ...

temple and the Maharaja Alak Narayana Society for Arts and Sciences which runs a number of education institutions. He was educated at

Scindia School The Scindia School is an Indian boarding school for boys, established in year 1897, and situated in the historic Gwalior Fort, in the city of Gwalior. It was originally started exclusively for royals and nobles of Indian princely states, part ...

Gwalior,

Hyderabad Public School The Hyderabad Public School, Begumpet (HPS, Begumpet) is a privately funded public school in Hyderabad, Telangana State, India. Children are schooled from the pre-primary stage to the 12th standard (ages 3 to 17). The school is affiliated with ...

and V.S. Krishna College, Visakhapatnam. His father

Pusapati Vijayarama Gajapati Raju Maharaja Pusapati Vijayrama Gajapati Raju D.Litt. was an Indian parliamentarian and philanthropist. He was the eldest son of Maharaja Alak Narayanadev Gajapathi Raju and Vidyavathi Devi of Vizianagaram estate in Andhra Pradesh. He was born at ...

and his brother Pusapati Ananda Gajapathi Raju were also Indian parliamentarians and ministers in the state government. He is a former President of Andhra Cricket Association. His efforts resulted in the establishment of several centres for imparting training in several sports at many places including Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam and Vizianagaram.

Political career

He won the

Vizianagaram Vizianagaram is a city and the headquarters of Vizianagaram district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is central Eastern Ghats, about west of the Bay of Bengal and north-northeast of Visakhapatnam. The city has a population of 228,02 ...

Vidhan Sabha constituency for the first time as

Janata Party The Janata Party ( JP, lit. ''People's Party'') was a political party that was founded as an amalgam of Indian political parties opposed to the Emergency that was imposed between 1975 and 1977 by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of the Indian Nati ...

candidate in 1978. He joined the

Telugu Desam Party The Telugu Desam Party (; TDP) is an Indian regional political party operating in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana at the state and central level. Since its founding by N. T. Rama Rao (often referred to as NTR) on 29 March 1982, the party has fo ...

when it was formed in 1982 and won the state assembly elections of 1983, 1985, 1989, 1994, 1999 and 2009. He won the 2014 Indian general election to the

16th Lok Sabha Members of the 16th Lok Sabha were elected during the 2014 Indian general election. The elections were conducted in 9 phases from 7 April 2014 to 12 May 2014 by the Election Commission of India. The results of the election were declared on 16 M ...

from

. He served Andhra Pradesh as a Cabinet Minister for Excise, Commercial Taxes, Finance, Revenue and Legislative Affairs in State Government. He is a Politburo member in the

. He was the Union minister for

Civil Aviation Civil aviation is one of two major categories of flying, representing all non-military and non-state aviation, both private and commercial. Most of the countries in the world are members of the International Civil Aviation Organization and work ...

in the National Democratic Alliance cabinet. He resigned on 8 March 2018 over a dispute with central government to provide special status to Andhra Pradesh.

Other Works

He took an active part in the struggle for the formation of a new district viz.

. His interest to improve education in the district led to the establishment of several governmental and non-governmental educational institutions. He served as Chairman of The Maharaja Alak Narayana Society of Arts and Science (MANSAS) which is running twelve educational institutions in the district. As a Minister, he was associated with several developmental activities. He is keenly interested in the field of public health and the conservation of water and electricity. In pursuance of this ideal, he launched housing, drinking water and health schemes. He has traveled abroad to study town planning and to implement it suitably in Andhra Pradesh.

Personal life

He is from royal

family of

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

and is 11th Custodian of his family. He married Suneela in the year 1974 and has 2 daughters. He is a strongman of his family and also involves in activities besides Politics.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Raju, Ashok Gajapati 1951 births Janata Party politicians Telugu Desam Party politicians Living people India MPs 2014–2019 Lok Sabha members from Andhra Pradesh People from Vizianagaram district Members of the Cabinet of India Civil aviation ministers of India Narendra Modi ministry People from Uttarandhra