Rao suffered cardiac arrest when he was getting into his car at Eluru to embark on a campaign for the upcoming Gram Panchayat elections, family sources said. He was 66.

A key aide of Union Minister K Chiranjeevi, Rao began his political career in the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and was elected to the Assembly from Chintalapudi constituency five times in a row from 1983.

He was a Minister in the cabinets of N T Rama Rao and Nara Chandrababu Naidu and held important portfolios like Agriculture and Major Industries.