Karumuri Venkata Nageswara Rao was born on 2nd October 1964 to Karumuri Ramakrishna garu and Karumuri Suryakathamma garu in Attili, West Godavari District, into a Hindu family.

He moved to Hyderabad at the age of 18 and started his own business. He has two sisters and a brother who is a chemistry professor in Tanuku. In 1989 he was married to Lakshmi Kiran. The couple have a son and daughter.

He started his political career in Congress Party, he was General Secretary of Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee from 2009 to 2014. He also served as chairperson for West Godavari Zilla Parishad for three years before being elected as MLA for the first time in 2009.

He was awarded honorary doctorate in social service by Westbrook University, US in 2007. He has been appointed as General Secretary of Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee on 9 June 2013. He was elected for second term as MLA from Tanuku in 2019 elections representing YSR Congress.