# 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, India. 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) | Won | 57.18 | K. R. Subbian | JP | 39.26 |
| 1984 Indian general election | Nilgiris | INC | Won | 60.31 | C. T. Dhandapani | DMK | 37.03 |
| 1989 Indian general election | Nilgiris | INC | Won | 61.49 | S. A. Mahalingam | DMK | 38.03 |
| 1991 Indian general election | Nilgiris | INC | Won | 58.75 | S. Duraisamy | DMK | 31.35 |
| 1996 Indian general election | Nilgiris | INC | Lost | 25.68 | S. R. Balasubramaniam | TMC(M) | 62.91 |
| 1998 Indian general election | Nilgiris | INC | Lost | 15.35 | Master Mathan | BJP | 46.49 |
| 1999 Indian general election | Nilgiris | INC | Lost | 47.44 | Master Mathan | BJP | 50.73 |
| 2004 Indian general election | Nilgiris | INC | Won | 63.28 | Master Mathan | BJP | 32.99 |
| 2009 Indian general election | Coimbatore | INC | Lost | 30.94 | P. R. Natarajan | CPI(M) | 35.64 |
| 2014 Indian general election | Coimbatore | INC | Lost | 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 | Nilgiris | Indian National Congress | | Ruling | Indira Gandhi |
| 1984 | 8th Lok Sabha | Nilgiris | Indian National Congress | Minister of State, Agriculture (Dept. of Fertilisers) | Ruling | Rajiv Gandhi |
| 1989 | 9th Lok Sabha | Nilgiris | Indian National Congress | Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Finance | Opposition | V. P. Singh, Chandra Shekhar |
| 1991 | 10th Lok Sabha | Nilgiris | Indian National Congress | Member, 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 | Nilgiris | Indian National Congress | Member, Committee on Energy | Ruling | Dr. Manmohan Singh |