Former minister Ananda Gajapathi Raju passes away

VIZIANAGARAM (ANDHRA PRADESH): Former Andhra Pradesh minister Ananda Gajapathi Raju, brother of Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju, today died at a private hospital in Visakhapatnam after suffering a heart attack.

He was 66.

Raju, who had been not keeping well for the last couple of months, suffered a cardiac arrest this morning after which he was taken to Manipal Hospital in Visakhapatnam, nearly 66 kms from here, family members said.

Raju, who hailed from the titular family of Vizianagaram, started his political career with TDP in 1983 and won state assembly elections the same year.

He first became Member of Parliament on a TDP ticket in 1984 from Bobbili constituency in Vizianagaram district and won the same seat as a Congress candidate in 1991.

Raju also held Health and Education portfolios in the NT Rama Rao government.