PV NARASIMHA RAO

 From Sampath’s Desk:

 

PV NARASIMHA RAO

 (28 June 1921 – 23 December 2004)

 

On the occasion of the Centenary Celebrations of our former Prime Minister Pamulaparti Venkata Narasimha Rao beginning on his birthday 28.6.2020, let us recall his services to the nation - as MLA, MP, CM of the erstwhile undivided Andhra Pradesh, Union Minister holding Finance and Defence portfolios among others, and to top it all, as the Prime Minister of the country. People of South India feel happier to join the celebrations as Rao was not only the first Prime Minister of the country from the South but also completed a full term of five years in that capacity. He was the first Prime Minister hailing from a non-Nehru family to do so.

 

A freedom activist, PV Narasimha Rao, hailing from Warangal district (now part of Telangana), was our Prime Minister between 1991 and 1996. The highlights of his achievement during his tenure were – Economic Reforms-New Economic Policy 1991, Foreign Policy paradigm shifts like  -Look East, Cultivate Iran, Exercise Malabar, resumption and fostering Indo-Israel ties – facilitating India’s Nuclear Programme, ending insurgencies in Punjab, ushering in ‘Green Revolution’, etc.

 

His tenure can be looked at as one of the most important Premierships in India, as the country was undergoing pivotal economic and social turbulences at the start of his tenure. He managed to pull the country out of debt, and set it on a path towards economic liberalization resulting in India becoming one of the ‘fastest growing economies of the world’.

 

He inherited the responsibility of running the country at the height of insurgencies in the country. In spite of all these problems, he managed to lead India through to social and economic modernity.

 

He was referred to as ’Political Chanakya’ by his peers for his ability to steer through tough economic and political legislations through a time when he headed a minority government. A multi-linguist, he had the ability to speak seventeen languages; having fluency in Telugu, Marathi, Hindi, English, Tamil, Urdu, Kannada, Oriya, Sanskrit, French and Spanish, among others.

 

If today India is the world’s third largest economy in purchasing power parity, it was the political leadership and sagacity, first with Chandra Shekhar (Prime Minister before Rao) and then with Rao, who were able to create a political environment in which the economic crisis was dealt with effectively and efficienetly with the help of his economic advisers.

Without the requisite political leadership to undercut the legacy of India’s socialist economy, there was no way liberalisation would have happened the way it did. This was probably Rao’s greatest achievement.

 

P.V. Narasimha Rao was conferred with the Pratibha Murthy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002.

 

R.SAMPATH

28/6/2020

 

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