
Sri. Pusapati Ashok Gajapathi Raju (born 26
June 1951) is an Indian politician who is currently serving as
the governor of Goa since July 2025 and
the former Union Minister for Civil Aviation.
A scion of royal family of Vizianagaram princely state, he is the younger
son of the last Maharaja of Vizianagaram.
He was appointed as governor of Goa
by president of India on 14 July 2025.
He was a member of Andhra Pradesh
State legislature for over twenty-five years and was a
State Minister, for
thirteen years holding the portfolios of Commercial Taxes, Excise, Legislative
affairs, Finance, Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation.
Sri. Pusapati Ashok Gajapathi Raju garu (born
26 June 1951) is an Indian politician who is currently serving as
the governor of Goa since July 2025 and
the former Union Minister for Civil Aviation.
A scion of royal family of Vizianagaram princely state, he is the younger
son of the last Maharaja of Vizianagaram.
He was appointed as governor of Goa
by president of India on 14 July 2025.
He was a member of Andhra Pradesh
State legislature for over twenty-five years and was a State Minister,
for
thirteen years holding the portfolios of Commercial Taxes, Excise, Legislative
affairs, Finance, Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation.
Personal life
Pusapati Ashok Gajapathi Raju comes from the Pusapati royal
family of the Vizianagaram estate.
He is the son of
Maharaja Pusapati Vijayarama Gajapathi Raju,
the last Maharaja of Vizianagram.
His family is known
for its philanthropy through its temples that include the famous Simhachalam temple
and
the Maharaja Alak Narayana Society for Arts and Sciences which runs a
number of education institutions.
He was educated at Scindia School Gwalior, Hyderabad Public School and V.S. Krishna
College, Visakhapatnam.
His father Pusapati Vijayarama Gajapati
Raju 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. He
is from royal Pusapati family of Andhra Pradesh and
is 11th Custodian of his family.
He married Suneela in the year 1974 and
has 2 daughters, one of whom is Pusapati Aditi Vijayalakshmi, the MLA
from Vizianagaram Assembly constituency.
Political career
President Pranab Mukherjee administering the oath as
Cabinet Minister to Raju
He won the Vizianagaram Legislative
Assembly constituency for the first time as Janata Party candidate
in 1978.
He joined the Telugu Desam Party 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 from Vizianagaram.
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 Telugu Desam Party.
He was the Union minister
for Civil Aviation 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.
Goa Governorship
On July 14, 2025, he was appointed as the Governor of Goa, with his
swearing-in scheduled for July 26.
He officially resigned from the TDP to
take up the post and expressed gratitude to the party leadership for the
opportunity to serve.
Other works
He took an active part in the struggle for the formation of a new district
viz. Vizianagaram.
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 travelled abroad to study town planning and to implement it
suitably in Andhra Pradesh.
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– Since 2014
Devotee of Pusapati Family