diff --git a/test/integration/lrp/lrp_fqdn_test.go b/test/integration/lrp/lrp_fqdn_test.go
index 93bca2439b..18ddc1caba 100644
--- a/test/integration/lrp/lrp_fqdn_test.go
+++ b/test/integration/lrp/lrp_fqdn_test.go
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ func TestLRPFQDN(t *testing.T) {
 	for _, tt := range tests {
 		tt := tt
 		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
-			testLRPCase(t, ctx, *selectedPod, tt.command, tt.expectedMsgContains, tt.expectedErrMsgContains, tt.shouldError, tt.countIncreases)
+			testLRPCase(t, ctx, *selectedPod, tt.command, tt.expectedMsgContains, tt.expectedErrMsgContains, tt.shouldError, tt.countIncreases, getPrometheusAddress(initialPrometheusPort))
 		})
 	}
 }
diff --git a/test/integration/lrp/lrp_test.go b/test/integration/lrp/lrp_test.go
index 59fd974114..9d473f9188 100644
--- a/test/integration/lrp/lrp_test.go
+++ b/test/integration/lrp/lrp_test.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ package lrp
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"fmt"
 	"os"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
@@ -13,11 +14,16 @@ import (
 	"github.com/Azure/azure-container-networking/test/integration/prometheus"
 	"github.com/Azure/azure-container-networking/test/internal/kubernetes"
 	"github.com/Azure/azure-container-networking/test/internal/retry"
+	ciliumv2 "github.com/cilium/cilium/pkg/k8s/apis/cilium.io/v2"
 	ciliumClientset "github.com/cilium/cilium/pkg/k8s/client/clientset/versioned"
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 	"golang.org/x/exp/rand"
 	corev1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
+	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
+	k8sclient "k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes"
+	"k8s.io/client-go/rest"
+	"sigs.k8s.io/yaml"
 )
 
 const (
@@ -28,11 +34,13 @@ const (
 	dnsService                = "kube-dns"
 	retryAttempts             = 10
 	retryDelay                = 5 * time.Second
-	promAddress               = "http://localhost:9253/metrics"
 	nodeLocalDNSLabelSelector = "k8s-app=node-local-dns"
 	clientLabelSelector       = "lrp-test=true"
 	coreDNSRequestCountTotal  = "coredns_dns_request_count_total"
 	clientContainer           = "no-op"
+	// Port constants for prometheus endpoints
+	initialPrometheusPort   = 9253
+	recreatedPrometheusPort = 9254
 )
 
 var (
@@ -47,6 +55,11 @@ var (
 	clientPath                     = ciliumManifestsDir + "client-ds.yaml"
 )
 
+// getPrometheusAddress returns the prometheus metrics URL for the given port
+func getPrometheusAddress(port int) string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf("http://localhost:%d/metrics", port)
+}
+
 func setupLRP(t *testing.T, ctx context.Context) (*corev1.Pod, func()) {
 	var cleanUpFns []func()
 	success := false
@@ -132,8 +145,8 @@ func setupLRP(t *testing.T, ctx context.Context) (*corev1.Pod, func()) {
 	pf, err := k8s.NewPortForwarder(config, k8s.PortForwardingOpts{
 		Namespace: nodeLocalDNSDS.Namespace,
 		PodName:   selectedLocalDNSPod,
-		LocalPort: 9253,
-		DestPort:  9253,
+		LocalPort: initialPrometheusPort,
+		DestPort:  initialPrometheusPort,
 	})
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	pctx := context.Background()
@@ -154,7 +167,7 @@ func setupLRP(t *testing.T, ctx context.Context) (*corev1.Pod, func()) {
 }
 
 func testLRPCase(t *testing.T, ctx context.Context, clientPod corev1.Pod, clientCmd []string, expectResponse, expectErrMsg string,
-	shouldError, countShouldIncrease bool) {
+	shouldError, countShouldIncrease bool, prometheusAddress string) {
 
 	config := kubernetes.MustGetRestConfig()
 	cs := kubernetes.MustGetClientset()
@@ -167,9 +180,11 @@ func testLRPCase(t *testing.T, ctx context.Context, clientPod corev1.Pod, client
 		"zone":   ".",
 	}
 
-	// curl localhost:9253/metrics
-	beforeMetric, err := prometheus.GetMetric(promAddress, coreDNSRequestCountTotal, metricLabels)
+	// curl to the specified prometheus address
+	beforeMetric, err := prometheus.GetMetric(prometheusAddress, coreDNSRequestCountTotal, metricLabels)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
+	beforeValue := beforeMetric.GetCounter().GetValue()
+	t.Logf("Before DNS request - metric count: %.0f", beforeValue)
 
 	t.Log("calling command from client")
 
@@ -187,13 +202,15 @@ func testLRPCase(t *testing.T, ctx context.Context, clientPod corev1.Pod, client
 	time.Sleep(500 * time.Millisecond)
 
 	// curl again and see count diff
-	afterMetric, err := prometheus.GetMetric(promAddress, coreDNSRequestCountTotal, metricLabels)
+	afterMetric, err := prometheus.GetMetric(prometheusAddress, coreDNSRequestCountTotal, metricLabels)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
+	afterValue := afterMetric.GetCounter().GetValue()
+	t.Logf("After DNS request - metric count: %.0f (diff: %.0f)", afterValue, afterValue-beforeValue)
 
 	if countShouldIncrease {
-		require.Greater(t, afterMetric.GetCounter().GetValue(), beforeMetric.GetCounter().GetValue(), "dns metric count did not increase after command")
+		require.Greater(t, afterValue, beforeValue, "dns metric count did not increase after command - before: %.0f, after: %.0f", beforeValue, afterValue)
 	} else {
-		require.Equal(t, afterMetric.GetCounter().GetValue(), beforeMetric.GetCounter().GetValue(), "dns metric count increased after command")
+		require.Equal(t, afterValue, beforeValue, "dns metric count increased after command - before: %.0f, after: %.0f", beforeValue, afterValue)
 	}
 }
 
@@ -210,9 +227,282 @@ func TestLRP(t *testing.T) {
 	defer cleanupFn()
 	require.NotNil(t, selectedPod)
 
+	// Get the kube-dns service IP for DNS requests
+	cs := kubernetes.MustGetClientset()
+	svc, err := kubernetes.GetService(ctx, cs, kubeSystemNamespace, dnsService)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	kubeDNS := svc.Spec.ClusterIP
+
+	t.Logf("LRP Test Starting...")
+
+	// Basic LRP test - using initial port from setupLRP
 	testLRPCase(t, ctx, *selectedPod, []string{
-		"nslookup", "google.com", "10.0.0.10",
-	}, "", "", false, true)
+		"nslookup", "google.com", kubeDNS,
+	}, "", "", false, true, getPrometheusAddress(initialPrometheusPort))
+
+	t.Logf("LRP Test Completed")
+
+	t.Logf("LRP Lifecycle Test Starting")
+
+	// Run LRP Lifecycle test
+	testLRPLifecycle(t, ctx, *selectedPod, kubeDNS)
+
+	t.Logf("LRP Lifecycle Test Completed")
+}
+
+// testLRPLifecycle performs testing of Local Redirect Policy functionality
+// including pod restarts, resource recreation, and cilium command validation
+func testLRPLifecycle(t *testing.T, ctx context.Context, clientPod corev1.Pod, kubeDNS string) {
+	config := kubernetes.MustGetRestConfig()
+	cs := kubernetes.MustGetClientset()
+
+
+	// Step 1: Validate LRP using cilium commands
+	t.Log("Step 1: Validating LRP using cilium commands")
+	validateCiliumLRP(t, ctx, cs, config)
+
+	// Step 2: Restart busybox pods and verify LRP still works
+	t.Log("Step 2: Restarting client pods to test persistence")
+	restartedPod := restartClientPodsAndGetPod(t, ctx, cs, clientPod)
+
+	// Step 3: Verify metrics after restart
+	t.Log("Step 3: Verifying LRP functionality after pod restart")
+	testLRPCase(t, ctx, restartedPod, []string{
+		"nslookup", "google.com", kubeDNS,
+	}, "", "", false, true, getPrometheusAddress(initialPrometheusPort))
+
+	// Step 4: Validate cilium commands still show LRP
+	t.Log("Step 4: Re-validating cilium LRP after restart")
+	validateCiliumLRP(t, ctx, cs, config)
+
+	// Step 5: Delete and recreate resources & restart nodelocaldns daemonset
+	t.Log("Step 5: Testing resource deletion and recreation")
+	recreatedPod := deleteAndRecreateResources(t, ctx, cs, clientPod)
+
+	// Step 6: Re-establish port forward to new node-local-dns pod and validate metrics
+	t.Log("Step 6: Re-establishing port forward to new node-local-dns pod for metrics validation")
+
+	// Get the new node-local-dns pod on the same node as our recreated client pod
+	nodeName := recreatedPod.Spec.NodeName
+	newNodeLocalDNSPods, err := kubernetes.GetPodsByNode(ctx, cs, kubeSystemNamespace, nodeLocalDNSLabelSelector, nodeName)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.NotEmpty(t, newNodeLocalDNSPods.Items, "No node-local-dns pod found on node %s after restart", nodeName)
+
+	newNodeLocalDNSPod := TakeOne(newNodeLocalDNSPods.Items)
+	t.Logf("Setting up port forward to new node-local-dns pod: %s", newNodeLocalDNSPod.Name)
+
+	// Setup new port forward to the new node-local-dns pod
+	newPf, err := k8s.NewPortForwarder(config, k8s.PortForwardingOpts{
+		Namespace: newNodeLocalDNSPod.Namespace,
+		PodName:   newNodeLocalDNSPod.Name,
+		LocalPort: recreatedPrometheusPort, // Use different port to avoid conflicts
+		DestPort:  initialPrometheusPort,
+	})
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	newPortForwardCtx, newCancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, (retryAttempts+1)*retryDelay)
+	defer newCancel()
+
+	err = defaultRetrier.Do(newPortForwardCtx, func() error {
+		t.Logf("attempting port forward to new node-local-dns pod %s...", newNodeLocalDNSPod.Name)
+		return errors.Wrap(newPf.Forward(newPortForwardCtx), "could not start port forward to new pod")
+	})
+	require.NoError(t, err, "could not start port forward to new node-local-dns pod")
+	defer newPf.Stop()
+
+	t.Log("Port forward to new node-local-dns pod established")
+
+	// Use testLRPCase function with the new prometheus address
+	t.Log("Validating metrics with new node-local-dns pod")
+	testLRPCase(t, ctx, recreatedPod, []string{
+		"nslookup", "github.com", kubeDNS,
+	}, "", "", false, true, getPrometheusAddress(recreatedPrometheusPort))
+
+	t.Logf("SUCCESS: Metrics validation passed - traffic is being redirected to new node-local-dns pod %s", newNodeLocalDNSPod.Name)
+
+	// Step 7: Final cilium validation after node-local-dns restart
+	t.Log("Step 7: Final cilium validation - ensuring LRP is still active after node-local-dns restart")
+	validateCiliumLRP(t, ctx, cs, config)
+
+}
+
+// validateCiliumLRP checks that LRP is properly configured in cilium
+func validateCiliumLRP(t *testing.T, ctx context.Context, cs *k8sclient.Clientset, config *rest.Config) {
+	ciliumPods, err := cs.CoreV1().Pods(kubeSystemNamespace).List(ctx, metav1.ListOptions{
+		LabelSelector: "k8s-app=cilium",
+	})
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.NotEmpty(t, ciliumPods.Items)
+	ciliumPod := TakeOne(ciliumPods.Items)
+
+	// Get Kubernetes version to determine validation approach
+	serverVersion, err := cs.Discovery().ServerVersion()
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	t.Logf("Detected Kubernetes version: %s", serverVersion.String())
+
+	// Get kube-dns service IP for validation
+	svc, err := kubernetes.GetService(ctx, cs, kubeSystemNamespace, dnsService)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	kubeDNSIP := svc.Spec.ClusterIP
+
+	// IMPORTANT: Get node-local-dns pod IP on the SAME node as the cilium pod we're using
+	selectedNode := ciliumPod.Spec.NodeName
+	t.Logf("Using cilium pod %s on node %s for validation", ciliumPod.Name, selectedNode)
+
+	// Get node-local-dns pod specifically on the same node as our cilium pod
+	nodeLocalDNSPods, err := kubernetes.GetPodsByNode(ctx, cs, kubeSystemNamespace, nodeLocalDNSLabelSelector, selectedNode)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.NotEmpty(t, nodeLocalDNSPods.Items, "No node-local-dns pod found on node %s", selectedNode)
+
+	// Use the first (and should be only) node-local-dns pod on this node
+	nodeLocalDNSPod := nodeLocalDNSPods.Items[0]
+	nodeLocalDNSIP := nodeLocalDNSPod.Status.PodIP
+	require.NotEmpty(t, nodeLocalDNSIP, "node-local-dns pod %s has no IP address", nodeLocalDNSPod.Name)
+
+	t.Logf("Validating LRP: kubeDNS IP=%s, nodeLocalDNS IP=%s (pod: %s), node=%s",
+		kubeDNSIP, nodeLocalDNSIP, nodeLocalDNSPod.Name, selectedNode)
+
+	// Check cilium lrp list
+	lrpListCmd := []string{"cilium", "lrp", "list"}
+	lrpOutput, _, err := kubernetes.ExecCmdOnPod(ctx, cs, ciliumPod.Namespace, ciliumPod.Name, "cilium-agent", lrpListCmd, config, false)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	// Validate the LRP output structure more thoroughly
+	lrpOutputStr := string(lrpOutput)
+	require.Contains(t, lrpOutputStr, "nodelocaldns", "LRP not found in cilium lrp list")
+
+	// Parse LRP list output to validate structure
+	lrpLines := strings.Split(lrpOutputStr, "\n")
+	nodelocaldnsFound := false
+
+	for _, line := range lrpLines {
+		line = strings.TrimSpace(line)
+		if strings.Contains(line, "nodelocaldns") && strings.Contains(line, "kube-system") {
+			// Validate that the line contains expected components
+			require.Contains(t, line, "kube-dns", "LRP line should reference kube-dns service")
+			nodelocaldnsFound = true
+			t.Logf("Found nodelocaldns LRP entry: %s", line)
+			break
+		}
+	}
+
+	require.True(t, nodelocaldnsFound, "nodelocaldns LRP entry not found with expected structure in output: %s", lrpOutputStr)
+
+	// Check cilium service list for localredirect
+	serviceListCmd := []string{"cilium", "service", "list"}
+	serviceOutput, _, err := kubernetes.ExecCmdOnPod(ctx, cs, ciliumPod.Namespace, ciliumPod.Name, "cilium-agent", serviceListCmd, config, false)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.Contains(t, string(serviceOutput), "LocalRedirect", "LocalRedirect not found in cilium service list")
+
+	// Validate LocalRedirect entries
+	serviceLines := strings.Split(string(serviceOutput), "\n")
+	tcpFound := false
+	udpFound := false
+	legacyFound := false
+
+	for _, line := range serviceLines {
+		if strings.Contains(line, "LocalRedirect") && strings.Contains(line, kubeDNSIP) {
+			// Check if this line contains the expected frontend (kube-dns) and backend (node-local-dns) IPs
+			if strings.Contains(line, nodeLocalDNSIP) {
+				// Check for both modern format (with /TCP or /UDP) and legacy format (without protocol)
+				if strings.Contains(line, "/TCP") {
+					tcpFound = true
+					t.Logf("Found TCP LocalRedirect: %s", strings.TrimSpace(line))
+				} else if strings.Contains(line, "/UDP") {
+					udpFound = true
+					t.Logf("Found UDP LocalRedirect: %s", strings.TrimSpace(line))
+				} else {
+					legacyFound = true
+					t.Logf("Found legacy LocalRedirect: %s", strings.TrimSpace(line))
+				}
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	// Validate that we found either legacy format or modern format entries
+	t.Log("Validating LocalRedirect entries - accepting either legacy format or modern TCP/UDP format")
+	require.True(t, legacyFound || (tcpFound && udpFound), "Either legacy LocalRedirect entry OR both TCP and UDP entries must be found with frontend IP %s and backend IP %s on node %s", kubeDNSIP, nodeLocalDNSIP, selectedNode)
+
+	t.Logf("Cilium LRP List Output:\n%s", string(lrpOutput))
+	t.Logf("Cilium Service List Output:\n%s", string(serviceOutput))
+}
+
+// restartClientPodsAndGetPod restarts the client daemonset and returns a new pod reference
+func restartClientPodsAndGetPod(t *testing.T, ctx context.Context, cs *k8sclient.Clientset, originalPod corev1.Pod) corev1.Pod {
+	// Get the node name for consistent testing
+	nodeName := originalPod.Spec.NodeName
+
+	// Restart the daemonset (assumes it's named "lrp-test" based on the manifest)
+	err := kubernetes.MustRestartDaemonset(ctx, cs, originalPod.Namespace, "lrp-test")
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	// Wait for the daemonset to be ready
+	kubernetes.WaitForPodDaemonset(ctx, cs, originalPod.Namespace, "lrp-test", clientLabelSelector)
+
+	// Get the new pod on the same node
+	clientPods, err := kubernetes.GetPodsByNode(ctx, cs, originalPod.Namespace, clientLabelSelector, nodeName)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.NotEmpty(t, clientPods.Items)
+
+	return TakeOne(clientPods.Items)
+}
+
+// deleteAndRecreateResources deletes and recreates client pods and LRP, returning new pod
+func deleteAndRecreateResources(t *testing.T, ctx context.Context, cs *k8sclient.Clientset, originalPod corev1.Pod) corev1.Pod {
+	config := kubernetes.MustGetRestConfig()
+	ciliumCS, err := ciliumClientset.NewForConfig(config)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	nodeName := originalPod.Spec.NodeName
+
+	// Delete client daemonset
+	dsClient := cs.AppsV1().DaemonSets(originalPod.Namespace)
+	clientDS := kubernetes.MustParseDaemonSet(clientPath)
+	kubernetes.MustDeleteDaemonset(ctx, dsClient, clientDS)
+
+	// Delete LRP
+	lrpContent, err := os.ReadFile(lrpPath)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	var lrp ciliumv2.CiliumLocalRedirectPolicy
+	err = yaml.Unmarshal(lrpContent, &lrp)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	lrpClient := ciliumCS.CiliumV2().CiliumLocalRedirectPolicies(lrp.Namespace)
+	kubernetes.MustDeleteCiliumLocalRedirectPolicy(ctx, lrpClient, lrp)
+
+	// Wait for client pods to be deleted
+	t.Log("Waiting for client pods to be deleted...")
+	err = kubernetes.WaitForPodsDelete(ctx, cs, originalPod.Namespace, clientLabelSelector)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	// Wait for LRP to be deleted by polling
+	t.Log("Waiting for LRP to be deleted...")
+	err = kubernetes.WaitForLRPDelete(ctx, ciliumCS, lrp)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	// Recreate LRP
+	_, cleanupLRP := kubernetes.MustSetupLRP(ctx, ciliumCS, lrpPath)
+	t.Cleanup(cleanupLRP)
+
+	// Restart node-local-dns pods to pick up new LRP configuration
+	t.Log("Restarting node-local-dns pods after LRP recreation")
+	err = kubernetes.MustRestartDaemonset(ctx, cs, kubeSystemNamespace, "node-local-dns")
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	kubernetes.WaitForPodDaemonset(ctx, cs, kubeSystemNamespace, "node-local-dns", nodeLocalDNSLabelSelector)
+
+	// Recreate client daemonset
+	_, cleanupClient := kubernetes.MustSetupDaemonset(ctx, cs, clientPath)
+	t.Cleanup(cleanupClient)
+
+	// Wait for pods to be ready
+	kubernetes.WaitForPodDaemonset(ctx, cs, clientDS.Namespace, clientDS.Name, clientLabelSelector)
+
+	// Get new pod on the same node
+	clientPods, err := kubernetes.GetPodsByNode(ctx, cs, clientDS.Namespace, clientLabelSelector, nodeName)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.NotEmpty(t, clientPods.Items)
+
+	return TakeOne(clientPods.Items)
 }
 
 // TakeOne takes one item from the slice randomly; if empty, it returns the empty value for the type
diff --git a/test/integration/manifests/cilium/v1.13/cilium-config/cilium-config.yaml b/test/integration/manifests/cilium/v1.13/cilium-config/cilium-config.yaml
index 198074750b..add4b386b7 100644
--- a/test/integration/manifests/cilium/v1.13/cilium-config/cilium-config.yaml
+++ b/test/integration/manifests/cilium/v1.13/cilium-config/cilium-config.yaml
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ data:
   enable-l2-neigh-discovery: "true"
   enable-l7-proxy: "false"
   enable-local-node-route: "false"
-  enable-local-redirect-policy: "true" # set to true for lrp test
+  enable-local-redirect-policy: "false" 
   enable-metrics: "true"
   enable-policy: default
   enable-remote-node-identity: "true"
diff --git a/test/internal/kubernetes/utils.go b/test/internal/kubernetes/utils.go
index ac35efeada..27aa58e5bd 100644
--- a/test/internal/kubernetes/utils.go
+++ b/test/internal/kubernetes/utils.go
@@ -365,6 +365,24 @@ func WaitForDeploymentToDelete(ctx context.Context, deploymentsClient typedappsv
 	return errors.Wrapf(retrier.Do(ctx, assertDeploymentNotFound), "could not assert deployment %s isNotFound", d.Name)
 }
 
+func WaitForLRPDelete(ctx context.Context, ciliumClientset *cilium.Clientset, lrp ciliumv2.CiliumLocalRedirectPolicy) error {
+	lrpClient := ciliumClientset.CiliumV2().CiliumLocalRedirectPolicies(lrp.Namespace)
+
+	checkLRPDeleted := func() error {
+		_, err := lrpClient.Get(ctx, lrp.Name, metav1.GetOptions{})
+		if apierrors.IsNotFound(err) {
+			return nil
+		}
+		if err != nil {
+			return errors.Wrapf(err, "could not get LRP %s", lrp.Name)
+		}
+		return errors.Errorf("LRP %s still present", lrp.Name)
+	}
+
+	retrier := retry.Retrier{Attempts: RetryAttempts, Delay: RetryDelay}
+	return errors.Wrap(retrier.Do(ctx, checkLRPDeleted), "failed to wait for LRP to delete")
+}
+
 func WaitForPodDaemonset(ctx context.Context, clientset *kubernetes.Clientset, namespace, daemonsetName, podLabelSelector string) error {
 	podsClient := clientset.CoreV1().Pods(namespace)
 	daemonsetClient := clientset.AppsV1().DaemonSets(namespace)