Kavuri Sambasiva Rao (1 October 1943 â 11 March 2026) was an Indian politician, engineer and industrialist from the state of Andhra Pradesh.
Rao was the Minister of Textiles at Ministry of Textiles, with cabinet rank, for India in UPA Government from 17 June 2013.
He resigned as minister and from the Congress Working Committee by opposing the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh in 2014.
Rao was born in Dosapadu village, Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh on 1 October 1943. His father was Sri Raghavaiah. He was educated at NIT Warangal.
Rao was a member of the 8th, 9th, 12th, 14th and 15th Lok Sabha of India. He represented the Eluru constituency of Andhra Pradesh and was a member of the Bhartiya Janata Party, which he joined on 1 May 2014.
Once he was permanent invitee for Congress Working Committee. Earlier he represented Machilipatnam Lok Sabha constituency in Andhra Pradesh. Kavuri was a business entrepreneur in the fields of civil construction and health care. He was elected to Indian Parliament five times and member in parliament committee. He swore in as Union Cabinet minister for Textiles on 17 June 2013.
On 28 April 2014, he resigned from the Indian National Congress and announced his decision to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). A month earlier he had resigned as the minister, protesting the creation of the State of Telangana. He also announced that he would not contest the Lok Sabha polls on Indian National Congress ticket.
Rao died on 11 March 2026, at the age of 82.