Rao was born in Seelamvaripalli village, Prakasam district, Andhra Pradesh, to Kadiri Venkata Narasaiah,[1] a diamond merchant.

[4][5] He later filed nomination to contest the 2009 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly election from Kanigiri on behalf of TDP.

Upon objections raised by Mukku Ugra Narasimha Reddy, Congress candidate to Kanigiri, of a missing signature of Rao on his filed affidavit, the nomination was rejected by the Election Commission of India.

[7] Despite rumours that Rao being upset over Naidu's decision and that he might contest from Kanigiri as an independent,[6] he moved forward with Darsi constituency but lost the election to Maddisetty Venugopal of YSRCP.

Following reports of his plans to change his political alliance, he left TDP and joined YSR Congress Party in March 2020.