VISAKHAPATNAM: Former minister Pusapati Ananda Gajapathi Raju passed away in a corporate hospital in Visakhapatnam on Saturday, following a brief illeness.
He is elder brother of civil aviation minister P Ashok Gajapathi Raju and both brothers are direct descendants of the royal family of the erstwhile princely state of Vizianagaram. Besides serving as the Health and Education Minister in the State Cabinet of Andhra Pradesh, Ananda Gajapathi Raju was elected twice as Lok Sabha member from Vizianagaram.
He is also the hereditary trustee of Sri Varaha Lakshmi Nrusimha Swamy Devasthanam of Simhachalam as well as the chairman of MANSAS Trust, one of the top educational institutions in the region. The learned scholar with two PhDs (one in economics from Andhra University and another in education from the US), is known for his patronage for education institutions, research and also cricket.
Ananda Gajapathi Raju's younger brother and civil aviation minister P Ashok Gajapathi Raju was in the city to attend a private programme but rushed to the hospital soon after learning about his brother's demise.
Sources said that all the family members of the Pusapati royal family have been informed and will perform the funeral after consulting them. Condolence messages poured in from people belonging to various walks of life.