Chandrababu's Loyal Aide 'Ashok Gajapathi Raju'!
Ashok Gajapathi Raju, who contested for the first time from the Janata party in 1978 and won, contested elections ten times, except for the 2004 assembly elections and 2019 parliament Elections. Chandrababu and ashok Gajapathi Raju entered the assembly at the same time. In politics, ashok Gajapati Raju is recognized as a leader who did contemporary politics with Chandrababu. ashok Gajapathi Raju, who was first elected as a Member of parliament in 2014, earned a unique identity for himself by serving as the Union minister of Civil Aviation in the nda government. But in the 2019 elections, he contested as mp for the second time and lost with a small majority. ashok Gajapathiraju, who fell ill during that election, underwent major surgery after the election.
At the age of 70, ashok Gajapathi Raju data-faced many difficulties. He was haunted by problems like health problems and Mansa trust disputes. Everyone thought that he would once again contest as an mla or mp of vizianagaram constituency in the upcoming elections, but the tdp leadership allotted a ticket to his daughter Aditi Gajapathi Raju as the tdp mla candidate from Vizianagaram. ashok Gajapathi Raju's fans expressed doubts about his candidacy, but he said that he is unable to contest the election due to his ill health and will stay away from direct politics.