One of the major leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party from Kerala, he has held various ministerial portfolios including Defence, Parliamentary Affairs, Urban Development, Law, Justice, Company Affairs, and Railways. Rajagopal was a two-time MP in Rajya Sabha, the upper house of Indian Parliament from 1992 till 2004. O.Rajagopal was also a member of Government of Kerala’s Legislative Assembly Committee on Petitions & Committee of Public Work, Transport and Communications.
Personal details
Born: 15 September 1929 (age 94) Palakkad, Madras Presidency, British India
(present day Palakkad, Kerala, India)
Political party: Bharatiya Janata Party
Spouse: Dr. Shantha Kumari
Children: 2 (incl. Shyamaprasad)
Parents: Kunnathu Madhavan Nair
O. Konhikkavu Amma
Residence: Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
In addition, he was the first BJP Central Minister from Kerala and also served as the BJP parliamentary party deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha. Rajagopal was also the former BJP national vice president & state president of BJP in Kerala. Rajagopal lost the 2014 Lok sabha elections in the Thiruvananthapuram constituency by a narrow margin of 13000 votes after a close fight. He has also lost few assembly elections by a low margin.
Union Government planned to make O. Rajagopal the next State Governor of Goa after his term ended as an MLA in the Kerala Legislative Assembly in May 2021.[5] But he gave away the offer later by Central govt. that allows another Kerala BJP leader PS Sreedharan Pillai who is then Governor of Mizoram and transferred to Goa as the new Governor.
Early life
He was born on 15 September 1929 to Pandalam Kunnathu Madhavan Nair and O. Konhikkavu Amma of Olanchery Veedu in Pudukkode Panchayath in Palakkad. He is the eldest of the six children born to his parents. His early education took place in Kanakkannoor elementary school and Manjapra Upper Primary school and later went to Government Victoria College, Palakkad.
His Law education was undertaken in Madras and after he completed his studies in law, he began practicing law in 1956 at the Palakkad District Court.
