Lagadapati Rajagopal (born 1964) is an industrialist and former politician. He was the 15th

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...

MP from the

Vijaywada Vijayawada, formerly known as Bezawada, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and is a part of the state's Capital Region. It is the administrative headquarters of the NTR district. Its metropolitan region comprises NT ...

constituency for

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

. He resigned from Parliament and quit politics after the Telangana Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha. Rajagopal is the principal shareholder of

Lanco Infratech Lanco Infratech (Lagadapati Amarappa Naidu and Company Infratech) was a large Indian conglomerate that became insolvent in 2017. It was involved in construction, power, real estate, and several other segments. One of the first Independent Powe ...

History

He is the son of L. Ramalakshmamma and L.V. Rama Naidu, a contractor. He went into the family business after attending V R Siddhartha Engineering College, where he was suspended for 1 year. He married the daughter of politician Parvathaneni Upendra. He started two companies, one in the

pig iron Pig iron, also known as crude iron, is an intermediate product of the iron industry in the production of steel which is obtained by smelting iron ore in a blast furnace. Pig iron has a high carbon content, typically 3.8–4.7%, along with silic ...

business and one in the power industry. In 2004, he ran for office in the

Vijayawada Vijayawada, formerly known as Bezawada, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and is a part of the state's Capital Region. It is the administrative headquarters of the NTR district. Its metropolitan region comprises NT ...

district, the seat previously held by Father-in-law Upendra, and became a member of Parliament. He has been a prominent anti-Telangana voice. His company's headquarters have been moved to Delhi because the Hyderabad offices were deemed to be targets because of his anti-Telangana positions. On 13 February 2014, during a discussion of the Telangana Bill, L Rajagopal used

pepper spray Pepper spray, oleoresin capsicum spray, OC spray, capsaicin spray, or capsicum spray is a lachrymatory agent (a compound that irritates the eyes to cause a burning sensation, pain, and temporary blindness) used in policing, riot control, cr ...

while on the floor which caused all the members of Parliament to vacate the building. He stated this was in "self-defence...I used the spray when I saw a colleague from a different party being manhandled". He was suspended from Parliament by speaker

Meira Kumar Meira Kumar (born 31 March 1945) is an Indian politician and former diplomat. A member of the Indian National Congress, she was the Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment from 2004 to 2009, the Minister of Water Resources for a brief per ...

, along with 4 other MPs.

Sharad Yadav Sharad Yadav (born 1 July 1947) is a politician from Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) party. He has been elected to Lok Sabha seven times and to Rajya Sabha thrice from JD(U). He was the first national president of Janata Dal (United) since its forma ...

Janata Dal (United) Janata Dal (United) ("People’s Party (United)”) abbreviated as JD(U) is an Indian political party with political presence mainly in eastern and north-eastern India. JD(U) is recognised as a state party in the states of Bihar , Arunachal Pra ...

's President, called the actions "sedition". Protests against his actions included burning Rajagopal in effigy, and a boycott by lawyers in

Warangal Warangal () is a city in the Indian state of Telangana and the district headquarters of Warangal district. It is the second largest city in Telangana with a population of 704,570 per 2011 Census of India, and spreading over an . Warangal ser ...

district. He tendered his resignation from Parliament in February 2014.

Committee positions

While in Parliament, he has been on the following Committees: *Committee on Urban Development *Committee on Provision of Computers to Member of Lok Sabha, Offices of Political Parties and Officers of Lok Sabha Secretariat *Committee on External Affairs *Committee on Public Undertakings *Committee on Home Affairs *Consultative Committee for External Affairs *Committee on Public Undertakings

References

External links

MP profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rajagopal, Lagadapati Living people 1964 births Businesspeople from Vijayawada India MPs 2004–2009 India MPs 2009–2014 People from Nellore Lok Sabha members from Andhra Pradesh Indian National Congress politicians from Andhra Pradesh Telugu politicians