Vijayawada : Mandali Buddha Prasad, the Avanigadda MLA is well-known in Krishna district as a senior politician, statesman and lover of Telugu language and culture. His fondness for Telugu literature made him one of the highly respected politicians with true Gandhian values and philosophy.
Born in Nagayalanaka village in Diviseema region of Krishna district in 1956, he had schooling in Avanigadda and graduation from Hyderabad. His father Mandali Venkata Krishna Rao was a senior political leader with well known as former minister of AP and former MP. Both father and son Mandali Venkata Krishna Rao and Mandali Buddha Prasad represented Avanigadda.
Buddha Prasad was elected four times from Avanigadda Assembly constituency in 1999, 2004, 2014 and 2024. He was elected two times on behalf of Congress Party in 1999 and 2004. He was elected on behalf of the TDP in 2014 and won as Jana Sena Party candidate in 2024 from the same Avanigadda segment.
Buddha Prasad was the deputy speaker in the Assembly from 2014 to 2019. This time as part of the NDA alliance, Avanigadda constituency was allotted to Jana Sena Party. After that he quit the TDP just before the elections and joined the Jana Sena Party. He won the polls comfortably defeating the sitting MLA and YSRCP leader Simhadri Ramesh Babu, recording his fourth victory.
Party is no matter for the veteran politician. He won the contest representing the Congress, TDP and Jana Sena. It shows that voters of Avanigadda always stood by the senior politician and require his services.
Many politicians confine to politics only. But Buddha Prasad takes part in many literary and cultural programmes and guide the young writers, poets and artistes. His fondness for Telugu language is deep and he tries to use most Telugu words in his speeches.
