P. V. Narasimha Rao

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

P. V. Narasimha Rao
9th Prime Minister of India
In office 21 June 1991 – 16 May 1996
President	R. Venkataraman Shankar Dayal Sharma
Preceded by	Chandra Shekhar
Succeeded by	Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Minister of Defence
In office 6 March 1993 – 16 May 1996
Preceded by	Sharad Pawar
Succeeded by	Pramod Mahajan
In office 31 December 1984 – 25 September 1985
Prime Minister	Rajiv Gandhi
Preceded by	Rajiv Gandhi
Succeeded by	Shankarrao Chavan
Minister of External Affairs
In office 31 March 1992 – 18 January 1993
Preceded by	Madhavsinh Solanki
Succeeded by	Dinesh Singh
In office 25 June 1988 – 2 December 1989
Prime Minister	Rajiv Gandhi
Preceded by	Rajiv Gandhi
Succeeded by	V. P. Singh
In office 14 January 1980 – 19 July 1984
Prime Minister	Indira Gandhi
Preceded by	Shyam Nandan Prasad Mishra
Succeeded by	Indira Gandhi
Minister of Home Affairs
In office 12 March 1986 – 12 May 1986
Prime Minister	Rajiv Gandhi
Preceded by	Shankarrao Chavan
Succeeded by	Sardar Buta Singh
In office 19 July 1984 – 31 December 1984
Prime Minister	Indira Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi
Preceded by	Prakash Chandra Sethi
Succeeded by	Shankarrao Chavan
Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh
In office 30 September 1971 – 10 January 1973
Governor	Khandubhai Kasanji Desai
Preceded by	Kasu Brahmananda Reddy
Succeeded by	Jalagam Vengala Rao
Personal details
Born	28 June 1921 Vangara, Hyderabad State,British India (now in Andhra Pradesh, India)
Died	23 December 2004 (aged 83) New Delhi, Delhi, India
Nationality	Hyderabadi (1947-1948) Indian (1948-2004 death)
Political party	Indian National Congress
Alma mater	Osmania University Fergusson College
Profession	Lawyer Activist Poet
Religion	Hinduism

Pamulaparti Venkata Narasimha Rao (Telugu: పి.వి.నరసింహరావు) (28 June 1921 – 23 December 2004) was an Indian lawyer, politician andfreedom fighter^[1] who served as the ninth Prime Minister of India (1991–1996).^[2] He led an important administration, overseeing a major economic transformation and several home incidents affecting national security of India.^[3] Rao who held the Industries portfolio was personally responsible for the dismantling of the Licence Raj as this came under the purview of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.^[4] He is often referred to as the "Father of Indian Economic Reforms".^[5][6] Future prime ministers Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh would continue the economic reform policies pioneered by Rao's government. Rao accelerated the dismantling of the License Raj, reversing the socialist policies of Rajiv Gandhi's government. He employed Dr. Manmohan Singh as his Finance Minister to embark on historic economic transition. With Rao's mandate, Dr. Manmohan Singh launched India's globalisation angle of the reforms that implemented the International Monetary Fund (IMF) policies to rescue the almost bankrupt nation from economic collapse.^[4] Rao was also referred to as Chanakya for his ability to steer tough economic and political legislation through the parliament at a time when he headed a minority government.^[7][8]

Narasimha Rao was termed as the best Prime Minister after former PM Lal Bahadur Shastri who crafted India's post-Cold War diplomacy and economic reforms. According to Natwar Singh "Unlike Nehru his knowledge of Sanskrit was profound. Nehru had a temper, PV a temperament. His roots were deep in the spiritual and religious soil of India. He did not need to Discover India". Former President Kalam described Rao as "patriotic statesman who believed that the nation is bigger than the political system". Even APJ Abdul Kalam acknowledged that Rao in fact asked Kalam to get ready for nuclear tests in 1996 but it was not carried out as government at center got changed due to elections and it was later carried out by Vajpayee led NDA government. In fact Rao briefed Vajpayee on nuclear plans. Rao's term as Prime Minister was an eventful one in India's history. Besides marking a paradigm shift from the industrialising, mixed economic model of Jawaharlal Nehru to a market driven one, his years as Prime Minister also saw the emergence of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a major right-wing party, as an alternative to the Indian National Congresswhich had been governing India for most of its post-independence history. Rao's term also saw the destruction of the Babri Mosque in Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh when BJP's Kalyan Singh was CM which triggered one of the worst Hindu-Muslim riots in the country since its independence.^[9] Rao died in 2004 of a heart attack in New Delhi. He was cremated in Hyderabad.^[10]