He was born in Thrissur to Raghunath Kumar, a government employee (retired) and Usha Devi. Rakesh's primary education was at CMS Boys, Thrissur. He then completed his undergraduate degree from Kerala Varma College. After that, he completed his civil engineering degree from Government Engineering College, Thrissur. Later, after a gap of seven years, he completed his two-year MSW studies at Kalady Sanskrit University.