TDP veteran, Naidu loyalist, ex-Union minister: Who is new Goa Governor Ashok Gajapathi Raju

The seven-time MLA belongs to the erstwhile Pusapati royal family in Andhra Pradesh.

Updated on: Jul 14, 2025, 21:35:16 IST

By HT News Desk

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Former union minister Pusapati Ashok Gajapathi Raju was on Monday appointed the Governor of Goa by President Droupadi Murmu.

Raju also fought the Lok Sabha elections from the Vizianagaram constituency in 2014 and won. (@BJP4Goa )

The appointment will take effect from the date the Governor will take charge, an official release said.

Here is everything you need to know about the new Governor of Goa.

Raju (74) is a member of the N Chandrababu Naidu-led Telugu Desam Party (TDP), which is an ally of the BJP and is a part of the NDA government at the Centre.
The seven-time MLA belongs to the erstwhile Pusapati royal family in Andhra Pradesh.
The former civil aviation minister is a loyalist of Andhra Pradesh CM Naidu. A report in The Indian Express quoted party insiders as saying that Naidu is said to “value his advice a lot”.
He joined the TDP at its inception, when it was founded by N T Rama Rao in 1982.
Raju has represented the Vizianagaram assembly constituency six times – in 1978, 1983, 1985, 1989, 1994 and 2009. The first term was under a ticket from the Janata Party, while the other five times he was a part of the TDP.
He has also been a minister in the N T Rama Rao and the Chandrababu Naidu-led governments in Andhra Pradesh, holding portfolios like revenue, excise, finance etc.
Raju also fought the Lok Sabha elections from the Vizianagaram constituency in 2014 and won. Following his election as a Lok Sabha MP, Raju was appointed the civil aviation minister as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first term. He occupied the post till 2018.
During his term as the civil aviation minister, Raju pushed forward the UDAN regional connectivity scheme and undertook several airport projects.
The TDP member resigned as the union minister in 2018 on Naidu's direction, due to Centre's reluctance to grant a special category status to Andhra Pradesh.
Raju again contested the Lok Sabha polls in 2019 from his bastion Vizianagaram, but lost to YSRCP's B Chandra Shekar.

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