P. V. Narasimha Rao
Prime Minister of India
10th Prime Minister of India
In office
June 20, 1991 – May 16, 1996
Preceded by :- Chandra Shekhar
Succeeded by:- Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Constituency:- Nandyal, Andhra Pradesh
4th Chief Minister of Andhra Prades
In office
1971-09-30 – 1973-01-10
Preceded by:- Kasu Brahmananda Reddy
Succeeded by :- Jalagam Vengala Rao
Born:- 28 June 1921 Karimnagar, Andhra Pradesh, India (then
British India)
Died:- 23 December 2004 (aged 83) New Delhi, India
Political party :- Congress (I)
Occupation : Lawyer, Activist, Poet
Religion : Hindu
Pamulaparthi Venkata Narasimha (28 June 1921 – 23 December 2004), who was commonly known as P. V. Narasimha Rao, served as the 10th Prime Minister of the Republic of India.[1] He led one of the most important administrations in India’s modern history, overseeing a major economic transformation and several incidents affecting national security.[2] Rao accelerated the dismantling of the license raj. Rao, also called the “Father of Indian Economic Reforms,”[3] is best remembered for launching India’s free market reforms that rescued the almost bankrupt nation from economic collapse.[4] He was also commonly referred to as the Chanakya of modern India for his ability to steer tough economic and political legislation through the parliament at a time when he headed a minority government.[5][6]
Rao’s term as Prime Minister was an eventful one in India’s history. Besides marking a paradigm shift from the socialist economy propagated by Nehru to a market driven one, his years as Prime Minister also saw the emergence of the Bharatiya Janata Party, a major right-wing party, as an alternative to the Indian National Congress which had been governing India for most of its post-independence history. Rao’s term also saw the destruction of the Babri Mosque in Ayodhya which triggered one of the worst Hindu-Muslim riots in the country since its independence.[7]
Rao’s later life was marked by political isolation due to his association with corruption charges. Rao was acquitted on all charges prior to his death in 2004 of a heart attack in New Delhi. He was cremated in Hyderabad.[8]
Early life
PV’s father was P. V. Ranga Rao. He belonged to a wealthy Telugu Brahmin (6000 Niyogi) family from a village called Vangara (pedda), Bheema Devara pally mandal in the Karimnagar district of Andhra Pradesh, India.[9]
Narasimha Rao was popularly known as PV. He studied at Fergusson College and at the Universities of Mumbai and Nagpur where he obtained Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in law.[9][10] He could speak 17 languages including Urdu, Marathi, Kannada, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Oriya with a fluency akin to a native speaker.[11] His mother tongue was Telugu. In addition to seven Indian languages, he spoke English, French, Arabic, Spanish and Persian.[12] Along with his cousin Pamulaparthi Sadasiva Rao, PV edited a Telugu weekly magazine called Kakatiya Patrika from 1948 to 1955.
Narasimha Rao has three sons and five daughters. His eldest son P. V. Rangarao was as an education minister in Kotla Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy cabinet and MLA from HanmaKonda Assembly Constituency for two terms. His second son P. V. Rajeshwar Rao was a Member of Parliament from Secunderabad Lok Sabha Constituency.
Political career
Narasimha Rao was an active freedom fighter during the Indian Independence movement[9] and joined full time politics after independence as a member of the Indian National Congress. Narasimha Rao served brief stints in the Andhra Pradesh cabinet (1962–1971) and as Chief minister of the state of Andhra Pradesh (1971–1973).[10]
When the Indian National Congress split in 1969 Rao stayed on the side of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and remained loyal to her during the Emergency period (1975 - 77).[12] He rose to national prominence in 1972 for handling several diverse portfolios, most significantly Home, Defence and Foreign Affairs (1980-1984), in the cabinets of both Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi.[10] In fact it is speculated that he was in the running for the post of India’s President along with Zail Singh in 1982.[13]
