Visakhapatnam: So what if he could not fulfill his dream of becoming a pilot? The scion of the Pusapati royal family of Vizianagaram will now be piloting India's burgeoning civil aviation sector through one of its most turbulent phases.
For Ashok Gajapathi Raju, the sole MP from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) to make it into Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet, this is perhaps the most defining moment of his political career spanning over 35 years. In what could be termed as a rarity in politics, Raju, whose family traces its lineage to the Suryavanshis, stands apart for his squeaky clean and non-corrupt image.
Known as a gentleman politician, the soft spoken Raju is learnt to have been handpicked by TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu to be the voice of the regional party at the Centre as well as represent the interests of Seemandhra, which perhaps explains why he made his national political debut at the age of 63. "As Raju is a non-controversial and non-corrupt politician who has displayed unflinching loyalty to TDP, when Naidu was offered only one berth by Modi, he went with the man with the highest honour - Ashok," senior TDP leader and Vijayawada MLA Devineni Umamaheshwar Rao says about his politburo colleague.
Though Raju began his political innings with the Janata Party in 1978, he joined the TDP in 1983 when it was founded by NTR and has been with the party ever since. Known as a die-hard TDP loyalist, the Pusapati royal has held several key portfolios including finance, excise, revenue and legislative affairs during NTR's as well as Naidu's regimes.
27/05/14 Siva G/Times of India
To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline
For Ashok Gajapathi Raju, the sole MP from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) to make it into Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet, this is perhaps the most defining moment of his political career spanning over 35 years. In what could be termed as a rarity in politics, Raju, whose family traces its lineage to the Suryavanshis, stands apart for his squeaky clean and non-corrupt image.
Known as a gentleman politician, the soft spoken Raju is learnt to have been handpicked by TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu to be the voice of the regional party at the Centre as well as represent the interests of Seemandhra, which perhaps explains why he made his national political debut at the age of 63. "As Raju is a non-controversial and non-corrupt politician who has displayed unflinching loyalty to TDP, when Naidu was offered only one berth by Modi, he went with the man with the highest honour - Ashok," senior TDP leader and Vijayawada MLA Devineni Umamaheshwar Rao says about his politburo colleague.
Though Raju began his political innings with the Janata Party in 1978, he joined the TDP in 1983 when it was founded by NTR and has been with the party ever since. Known as a die-hard TDP loyalist, the Pusapati royal has held several key portfolios including finance, excise, revenue and legislative affairs during NTR's as well as Naidu's regimes.
27/05/14 Siva G/Times of India
