Yerran Naidu was born on 23 February 1957, in a Velama family[1][2][3] in Nimmada, a remote village in the Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh.

With the TDP joining the United Front Government, Naidu became a minister at the centre, holding the portfolio of Rural Development and Employment.

Two days before polling in the 2004 elections, he survived an assassination bid by Naxalites (Maoist Communists) who attempted to bomb his vehicle in Singupuram town in Srikakulam district.

[citation needed] In the 2009 elections, Naidu was defeated by the Congress party's Killi Krupa Rani, who was inducted into the Union ministry on 28 October 2012.

A severely-injured Naidu was transported to Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) in Srikakulam town, where the doctors' efforts to resuscitate him failed.