He stood for the 2004 Lok Sabha elections on the Indian National Congress ticket and until his death was a Member of Parliament for Bansgaon.

[1] Prasad was a member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly from 1974 to 1977.

He was Union Deputy Minister of Railways from February 1988 to July 1989 and Minister of State for Mines and Steel in the Department of Mines from July 1989 to December 1989.

He was elected to the 9th Lok Sabha in 1989 and served as Governor of Haryana from 14 June 1994 to 1999.

Mahaveer Prasad died on 28 November 2010 at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in Delhi after a long illness.