Former State Minister and MP Pusapati Anand Gajapathi Raju has passed away at the age of 65 and is survived by wife and a daughter. Union Civil Aviation Minster Ashok Gajapathi Raju is his younger brother.

• Anand was elder son of Raja Saheb of Vizianagaram P.V.G. Raju.
• He was Minister in N.T. Rama Rao’s cabinets twice and was elected from Bobbili Parliamentary constituency twice, one on Congress ticket and later on Telugu Desam ticket.
• He had also contested from Visakhapatnam to the Lok Sabha.
• Anand became chairman of MANSAS after his father’s demise.
• MANSAS is a trust formed by the late PVG Raju to run several educational and other institutions. Anand was also a journalist and worked with THE HINDU for a few years.
• He was hereditary trustee of 108 temples established or supported by the Vizianagaram royal family, including the Simhachalam Varahalakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple, Ramatheerthalu temple near Vizianagaram, and other temples.

The former Minister was ailing for some time and was having respirator problem.