R. Prabhu

R. Prabhu (born 31 May 1947) was an Indian National Congress member of Parliament in India, representing the Nilgiris (Ooty) constituency of Tamil Nadu. He was elected from Nilgiris five times since 1980 and one time Union Minister in Rajiv Gandhi cabinet.

Family R. Prabhu was born on 31 May 1947 to Coimbatore-based educationalist and industrialist P. R. Ramakrishnan and R. Rajeshwari. His father P. R. Ramakrishnan was the first Indian Alumni of MIT Sloan School of Management and a graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, United States who founded Madras Aluminum Company, South India Viscose, Coimbatore Institute of Technology and many other textile industries and two-time Member of Parliament representing Indian National Congress from Coimbatore for the 3rd Lok Sabha during the 1962 General Elections and Pollachi for the 2nd Lok Sabha during the 1957 General Elections. He is also the grandson of industrialist and Indian Civil Service officer Velagapudi Ramakrishna, who founded the KCP group of Industries in Chennai on the maternal side.

Education R. Prabhu completed his graduation in mechanical engineering from Madras University with honours and was a university gold medalist. He later completed his Master of Science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Political career He was a five-term Member of Parliament, representing the Nilgiris (Ooty) constituency of Tamil Nadu, India. He also held several ministerial posts and membership in parliamentary committees and ministries.

Elections Contested Election Constituency Party Result Vote % Opposition Candidate Opposition Party Opposition vote %1980 Indian general election Nilgiris INC (I) 57.18 K. R. Subbian JP 39.261984 Indian general election Nilgiris INC 60.31 C. T. Dhandapani DMK 37.03 1989 Indian general election Nilgiris INC 61.49 S. A. Mahalingam DMK 38.031991 Indian general election Nilgiris INC 58.75 S. Duraisamy DMK 31.351996 Indian general election Nilgiris INC 25.68 S. R. Balasubramaniam TMC(M) 62.911998 Indian general election Nilgiris INC 15.35 Master Mathan BJP 46.491999 Indian general election Nilgiris INC 47.44 Master Mathan BJP 50.732004 Indian general election Nilgiris INC 63.28 Master Mathan BJP 32.992009 Indian general election Coimbatore INC 30.94 P. R. Natarajan CPI(M) 35.642014 Indian general election Coimbatore INC 4.91 A.P. Nagarajan AIADMK 37.24

Positions held Indian General Election Year Lok Sabha Parliamentary Constituency Political party Additional political office Status Prime Minister 1980 7th Lok Sabha NilgirisIndian National Congress Ruling Indira Gandhi 1984 8th Lok Sabha NilgirisIndian National Congress Minister of State, Agriculture (Dept. of Fertilisers) Ruling Rajiv Gandhi 1989 9th Lok Sabha NilgirisIndian National Congress Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Finance Opposition V. P. Singh, Chandra Shekhar 1991 10th Lok Sabha NilgirisIndian National CongressMember, Committee on Science and technology, Consultative Committee (Ministry of Finance) and Committee on Petroleum and Natural Gas Ruling P. V. Narasimha Rao 2004 14th Lok Sabha NilgirisIndian National Congress Member, Committee on Energy Ruling Dr. Manmohan Singh