Lagadapati Rajagopal

For other people with the name Lagadapati, see Lagadapati.

Lagadapati Rajagopal (born 1964)^[1] is an industrialist and former^[2] politician. He was the 15th Lok Sabha MP from the Vijaywada constituency for Indian National Congress.^[3][4] He resigned from Parliament and quit politics after the Telangana Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha.^[2] Rajagopal is the principal shareholder of Lanco Infratech.^[5][6]

Lagadapati Rajagopal
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office 22 May 2004 – 19 February 2014
Preceded by	Gadde Ramamohan
Succeeded by	Kesineni Srinivas
Constituency	Vijayawada
Personal details
Born	1964 Nellore, india
Political party	Indian National Congress
Spouse	Padma Sri Lagadapati
Children	3 sons
Parent(s)	Lagadapati Ramanaidu Lagadapati Ramalakshmamma
Residence	Vijaywada
Alma mater	V R Siddhartha Engineering College Loyola Public School, Guntur
Profession	Industrialist

History

He is the son of L. Ramalakshmamma and L.V. Rama Naidu,^[7] a contractor.^[1] He went into the family business after attending V R Siddhartha Engineering College, where he was suspended for 1 year.^[1]

He married the daughter of politician Parvathaneni Upendra. He started two companies, one in the pig iron business and one in the power industry.^[1]

In 2004, he ran for office in the Vijayawada district, the seat previously held by Father-in-law Upendra, and became a member of Parliament.^[1] He has been a prominent anti-Telangana voice.^[1] His company's headquarters have been moved to Delhi because the Hyderabad offices were deemed to be targets because of his anti-Telangana positions.^[1]

On 13 February 2014, during a discussion of the Telangana Bill, L Rajagopal used pepper spray while on the floor which caused all the members of Parliament to vacate the building. He stated this was in "self-defence...I used the spray when I saw a colleague from a different party being manhandled".^[8] He was suspended from Parliament by speaker Meira Kumar,^[9] along with 4 other MPs.^[10] Sharad Yadav, Janata Dal (United)'s President, called the actions "sedition".^[10] Protests against his actions included burning Rajagopal in effigy, and a boycott by lawyers in Warangal district.^[11]

He tendered his resignation from Parliament in February 2014.^[2]

Committee positions

While in Parliament, he has been on the following Committees:

• Committee on Urban Development
• Committee on Provision of Computers to Member of Lok Sabha, Offices of Political Parties and Officers of Lok Sabha Secretariat
• Committee on External Affairs
• Committee on Public Undertakings
• Committee on Home Affairs
• Consultative Committee for External Affairs
• Committee on Public Undertakings