A display panel driving apparatus is disclosed. In one aspect the apparatus includes a gate driving part and a data driving part. The gate driving part is configured to increase a gate signal applied to a gate line of a display panel from an OFF voltage to a ON voltage, in response to an activation of a gate clock signal. It is also configured to decrease the gate signal from the ON voltage to a kickback compensation voltage between the OFF voltage and the ON voltage through a plurality of steps in response to an activation of a kickback compensation signal. The data driving part is configured to apply a data signal to a data line of the display panel. Therefore, a data-charging rate may be increased, and thus a display quality of the display apparatus may be increased.