Outside politics While studying in high school, Eko alongside two friends Tejo and Jejen founded a comedy group named Seboel. The group gained some success, featuring on radio shows and allowing Eko to meet several high-profile entertainers such as the
Warkop group. When Tejo and Jejen left the group, Eko enlisted new members and , but eventually disbanded the group when Savalas left to become a solo entertainer. He founded a new group with Akri and in 1994. The group achieved national fame through the comedy show '''', which was aired on the
TPI channel for over a decade. Outside of his entertainment career, Eko also owns cafes, salons, printing, advertising, and publishing companies.
Politics Eko has been involved in politics since 2005, and was active in various entertainers' associations. Eko's popularity was seen to have improved PAN's performance in the electoral district, where the party qualified for a number of municipal council seats despite failing to win any in
2004. While Eko qualified for a seat, the
Supreme Court of Indonesia nullified a number of legislative candidates including Eko. However, the
General Elections Commission refused to apply the ruling retroactively, and thus Eko was unaffected. He was sworn in for his first term on 1 October 2009, and stated that he would donate his first month's salary to victims of the
2009 Sumatra earthquakes. He was reelected in 2014 from the same district with around 64 thousand votes. For the
2019 legislative election, Eko moved to
Jakarta's 1st electoral district, and won his third term. He was reelected from Jakarta I in
2024. In the legislature, Eko is part of the sixth commission which covers industry, investment, and business competition for the 2019–2024 term. He was in the
fourth commission in 2014–2019. and criticized subsidies for electric vehicles, stating that the government should instead increase funding for public transportation or agriculture. According to Eko, while he was well-known from his entertainment career, he was mostly known under his stage name Eko Patrio instead of his legal name Eko Hendro Purnomo. A significant effort in his campaigning was to familiarise his constituents with his legal name, which was written on the ballot paper. ==Personal life==