Gopinath Gajapati

alt=Photo of Madhav Sundar Gajapati Narayana Deo the younger brother of the Prime Minister of Odisha(standing left), Prasanta Kishore Ray, Neeti Ray(grand daughter of Lal Mohan Patnaik) & Gopinath Gajapati(standing right) at Cuttack. Photo of Madhav Sundar Gajapati Narayana Deo the younger brother of the first Prime Minister of Odisha(standing left), Prasanta Kishore Ray(grand son of the first Chief Justice of Odisha), Neeti Ray(grand daughter of Lal Mohan Patnaik) & Gopinath Gajapati(standing right) at Cuttack.

Gopinath Gajapati also known as Gopinath Gajapati Narayan Deo (6 March 1943 – 10 January 2020) was an Indian politician and a former titular head of the erstwhile princely state of Paralakhemundi having been crowned as King or Gajapati (a regnal title similar to Maharaja) on May 26, 1974. He was the grandson of Krushna Chadra Gajapati ruler of the princely state of Paralakhemundi who had played a pivotal role in the formation of Odisha state on a linguistic basis on April 1, 1936. Born to Rama Chandra Gajapati Narayan Deo. He was a member of the 9th and 10th Lok Sabha of India. He married Rani Purna Devi from the erstwhile princely family of Dharampur on 14 March 1967.

Impervious to factional or hyperlocal politics Gopinath succeeded twice having represented the Berhampur Lok Sabha constituency of Odisha and was a member of the Indian National Congress political party. He later joined BJP, and moved to Biju Janata Dal in 2009.

With a protracted legal battle with his brother Sarbajgan Jagannath Narayana Deo

Following which local loyal supporters, members of the civil society in Paralakhemundi, members of the local Jagannath temple along with Indian National Congress Odisha MLA K. Surya Rao and other political party functionaries resorted stroming the Palace to help evacuate Gopinath Gajapati and render medical aid to him in the process transferring him to Vishakapatnam and later on airlifted to Chennai.

On 10 January 2020, Gajapati died in a private hospital in Bhubaneswar at age 76.

He was a patron member of the Orissa Chemical Society.