Pusapati Ashok Gajapathi Raju, born on 16th June 1951, had his education in Gwalior Scindia School, Hyderabad Public School and V.S. Krishna College, Visakhapatnam. He was elected from the Vizianagaram Constituency consecutively for the 6th time; first time as Janata Party candidate in 1978 and in the remaining elections as Telugu Desam candidate. He held office as Excise Minister and Commercial Taxes Minister in N.T.Rama Rao’s cabinet. Later he held Finance and Legislative affairs Minister & Revenue Minister in Chandrababu Naidu’s Cabinet. He is Politbuero Member in Telugu Desam Party.
Pusapati Ashok Gajapathi Raju comes from the Pusapati Royal family belongs to the Suryavanshi/Solar Dynasty Kshatriyas of Udaipur MahaRana family genealogical tree of which Ramachandra of Ramayana.
His Father, Pusapati Vijaya Rama Gajapati Raju, “The Raja Saheb of Vizianagaram” D.Litt. (born 1 May 1924 – died 14 November 1995) was an Indian parliamentarian and philanthropist. He was the eldest son of Maharaja Alak Narayana Gajapathi and Maharani Vidyavathi Devi of the princely state of Vizianagram in Andhra Pradesh.