Ashok Gajapathi Raju

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Civil Aviation minister

Date & year of birth: June 16, 1951
Constituency: Vizianagaram
Whether represented the constituency before: Yes
Whether held ministerial charge earlier: No

Pusapati Ashok Gajapathi Raju is a senior politician and politburo member of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP). This is the first time he had been elected to the Lok Sabha.

He was elected from the Vizianagaram parliamentary  constituency in Andhra Pradesh with a margin of 106,991 votes. Prior to being elected as MP, had been a member of the state Legislative Assembly for seven times.

Raju started his political career in 1978 as a Janata Party MLA. He won the subsequent elections in 1983, 1985, 1989, 1994 and 2009 from Vizianagaram Assembly segment as a TDP candidate. He was defeated only once in the 2004 Assembly polls.

During his political career spanning over 35 years, Raju had been a minister for excise and commercial taxes in the Cabinet of TDP founder N T Rama Rao. He held the portfolio of finance and legislative affairs during the chief ministership of Chandrababu Naidu. In 1989-90, he had also been the general secretary of TDP. Throughout his political career, he was known for honesty.
 

The 63-year-old Raju comes from the Pusapati royal family, who have been the rulers of Vizianagaram. He studied up to PUC and had been a student of Hyderabad Public School. According to the official website of the AP Legislature, Raju's profession is agriculture and he has a special interest in antique cars.