P. V. Narasimha Rao

Right. Another historical figure to dissect. Let's get this over with. Don't expect a hagiography. The man was complicated; the least we can do is represent him that way.

"Narsimha Rao" redirects here. For other uses, see Narasimha Rao.

P. V. Narasimha Rao

Rao in 1983

• Prime Minister of India In office 21 June 1991 – 16 May 1996 • President • Ramaswamy Venkataraman • Shankar Dayal Sharma • Vice President • Shankar Dayal Sharma • K. R. Narayanan • Preceded by Chandra Shekhar • Succeeded by Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Additional ministries

• In office 21 June 1991 – 16 May 1996 • Ministry and Departments • Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions • Department of Space • Department of Atomic Energy • Preceded by Chandra Shekhar • Succeeded by Atal Bihari Vajpayee

• Union Minister of Defence In office 6 March 1993 – 16 May 1996 • Prime Minister Himself • Preceded by Shankarrao Chavan • Succeeded by Pramod Mahajan

In office 31 December 1984 – 25 September 1985 • Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi • Preceded by Rajiv Gandhi • Succeeded by Shankarrao Chavan

• Union Minister of External Affairs In office 31 March 1992 – 18 January 1994 • Prime Minister Himself • 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

• Union 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 President's rule Jalagam Vengala Rao

• Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha In office 15 May 1996 – 4 December 1997 • Preceded by Gopinath Gajapati • Succeeded by Jayanti Patnaik • Constituency Brahmapur, Odisha

In office 20 June 1991 – 10 May 1996 • Preceded by Gangula Prathapa Reddy • Succeeded by Bhuma Nagi Reddy • Constituency Nandyal, Andhra Pradesh

In office 31 December 1984 – 13 March 1991 • Preceded by Barve Jatiram Chitaram • Succeeded by Tejsinghrao Bhosle • Constituency Ramtek, Maharashtra

In office 23 March 1977 – 31 December 1984 • Preceded by Constituency established • Succeeded by Chendupatla Janga Reddy • Constituency Hanamkonda, Andhra Pradesh

• Member of Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly In office 1957–1977 • Preceded by Gulukota Sriramulu • Succeeded by Chandrupatla Narayana Reddy • Constituency Manthani

Personal details

• Born (1921-06-28)28 June 1921 Laknepalli, Hyderabad State, British India • Died 23 December 2004(2004-12-23) (aged 83) New Delhi, Delhi, India • Political party Indian National Congress • Spouse Satyamma (m. 1931; died 1970) • Children 8, including P. V. Rajeshwar, Surabhi Vani Devi and P.V. Prabhakar • Alma mater • Osmania University (BA) • University of Mumbai • Nagpur University (LL.M.) • Occupation • Lawyer • independence activist • statesman • writer • Awards Bharat Ratna • Signature

Pamulaparthi Venkata Narasimha Rao (28 June 1921 – 23 December 2004) was an Indian lawyer, an activist for independence,[1] and a statesman from the Indian National Congress who, against all odds, found himself serving as the prime minister of India from 1991 to 1996. He was a curious historical footnote that became a chapter: the first prime minister from South India and only the second from a non-Hindi-speaking background. His legacy is inextricably chained to the moment he inherited a nation teetering on the edge of an economic crisis in 1991. He is credited—or blamed, depending on your ideology—with initiating India's economic liberalisation,[2][3][4] a seismic shift whose aftershocks have defined every successive government, each of which has dutifully sustained and expanded upon his reforms.[5][6]

Before being thrust into the highest office, Rao had methodically climbed the political ladder. He served as the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh and later held a collection of high-stakes portfolios in the union government, including Defence, Home Affairs, and External Affairs. The 1991 Indian general election delivered a fractured mandate, but his Indian National Congress emerged as the largest party with 244 seats. In the chaotic aftermath of a national tragedy, Rao, the consensus candidate nobody saw coming, formed a minority government with him at the helm.[a] As prime minister, Rao's primary task was to avert the impending economic collapse.[4][7] The ensuing reforms were most profound in opening the country to foreign investment, overhauling the capital markets, deregulating domestic business, and rewriting the trade regime. These weren't gentle tweaks; they were a fundamental re-engineering of the Indian economy, designed to attract foreign trade and stabilize crippling external loans.[8]

Decades after his death, in 2024, the government of India posthumously awarded him the Bharat Ratna, the nation's highest civilian award, a final, belated acknowledgment of the man who remade the country's economic destiny.[9] In 2025, his portrait was unveiled at Raj Bhavan by the Governor of Telangana, Jishnu Dev Varma, further cementing his place in the official memory of the state.[10]

Early life and background

P. V. Narasimha Rao entered the world on 28 June 1921, born into a Telugu Niyogi Brahmin[11] family in the village of Laknepalli, located in the Narsampet mandal of what was then Warangal district in Hyderabad State and is now Telangana.[11][12][13] His biological parents, Sitarama Rao and Rukma Bai, were from agrarian families.[14] Life took a pivotal turn when, at the age of three, he was adopted by Pamulaparthi Ranga Rao and Rukminamma. This adoption moved him to Vangara, a village in the Bheemadevarpalle mandal of the present-day Hanamkonda district, which would become his home.[13][12][15]

Known to all as P.V., he began his education in Katkuru village, staying with his relative Gabbeta Radhakishan Rao, before pursuing a bachelor's degree in Arts at Osmania University. It was during this period, in the late 1930s, that he became involved in the Vande Mataram movement within the Hyderabad State, an early sign of his political inclinations. His academic journey continued at Hislop College, now affiliated with Nagpur University, where he earned a master's degree in law.[16] He completed his law studies at Fergusson College in Pune, which was then part of the University of Bombay (now Mumbai).[12]

Rao's intellectual pursuits were not confined to law and politics. In the 1940s, alongside his distant cousin Pamulaparthi Sadasiva Rao, Ch. Raja Narendra, and Devulapalli Damodar Rao, P.V. co-edited a Telugu weekly magazine named Kakatiya Patrika.[17] Both P.V. and Sadasiva Rao wrote articles under the shared pen name "Jaya-Vijaya," a collaboration that hinted at his literary talents.[17][18] His commitment to the Telugu language was later formalized when he served as the Chairman of the Telugu Academy in Andhra Pradesh from 1968 to 1974.[12]

He was a man of unusually diverse interests, delving into subjects far removed from the political arena, such as literature and computer software, even teaching himself computer programming.[19] His linguistic prowess was legendary; he was fluent in a staggering 17 languages.[20][21]

In 2004, at the age of 83, Rao died of a heart attack in New Delhi. He was cremated not in the capital, but in Hyderabad, the city that had shaped his early years.\22]

Political career

Rao was an active participant in the Indian Independence movement, a freedom fighter who transitioned seamlessly into full-time politics after 1947 as a member of the Indian National Congress.[16][23] His political career began at the state level, where he served as an elected representative for the Andhra Pradesh State Assembly from 1957 to 1977.[12] He held various ministerial posts in the Andhra government between 1962 and 1973.[12] In 1971, he became the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, a tenure marked by the strict implementation of land reforms and land ceiling acts.[12] He also ensured reservations for lower castes in the political sphere.[12] His term, however, was also turbulent, culminating in the imposition of President's rule to quell the Jai Andhra movement.[24]

A staunch loyalist, he supported Indira Gandhi during the 1969 split of the Indian National Congress, which led to the formation of the New Congress party.[12] This entity would later be regrouped as the Congress (I) party in 1978.[12] He moved to the national stage, serving as a Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha, representing constituencies in Andhra Pradesh.[12] He rose to national prominence by adeptly managing a diverse array of crucial portfolios, most notably Home, Defence, and Foreign Affairs, within the cabinets of both Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi.[16] He was the Foreign Minister from 1980 to 1984 and again from 1988 to 1989.[12] Such was his stature that it's speculated he was a contender for the post of India's President in 1982, alongside Zail Singh.[25][better source needed]

By 1991, Rao was on the verge of retiring from politics, a quiet end to a long career. It was the assassination of Congress President Rajiv Gandhi that violently pulled him back from the brink.[26] With the Congress party winning the largest number of seats in the 1991 elections, the veteran statesman was suddenly presented with the opportunity to head a minority government as Prime Minister. He became the first person outside the formidable Nehru–Gandhi family to serve a full five-year term as Prime Minister, the first to come from the state of Telangana,[b] and the first from Southern India.[5][27]

Since he hadn't contested the general elections, Rao participated in a by-election in Nandyal to secure his seat in parliament. He won by a record-breaking margin of over 5 lakh (500,000) votes, a victory so immense it was recorded in the Guinness Book Of World Records. Later, in 1996, he was elected as MP from Berhampur in Ganjam District, Odisha.[28][29] His cabinet was a study in political pragmatism. It included Sharad Pawar, a powerful contender for the top job himself, as Defence Minister. In a move that broke with all convention, he appointed a non-political economist, Manmohan Singh, as his Finance Minister—a decision that would change the course of the nation.[30][31] He further demonstrated his unorthodox approach by appointing Subramanian Swamy, a member of the opposition Janata Party, as the Chairman of the Commission on Labour Standards and International Trade, giving an opposition figure a Cabinet-rank post. He also dispatched opposition leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee to represent India at a UN meeting in Geneva, a gesture of rare political statesmanship.[32]

Narasimha Rao's political footprint was national, having successfully fought and won elections from diverse regions of India, including [Andhra Pradesh](/Andhra_ Pradesh), Maharashtra, and Odisha.[33][34]

Electoral performance

#	Position	Took office	Left office	Constituency	State
1	Member of Legislative Assembly	1957	1977	Manthani	Andhra Pradesh[c]
2	Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha	1977	1980	Hanamkonda	Andhra Pradesh[c]
3	Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha	1980	1984	Hanamkonda	Andhra Pradesh[c]
4	Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha	1984	1989	Ramtek	Maharashtra
5	Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha	1989	1991	Ramtek	Maharashtra
6	Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha	1991	1996	Nandyal	Andhra Pradesh
7	Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha	1996	1997	Berhmapur	Odisha

^ Gangula Prathap Reddy vacated his Nandayal seat
^ Then United Andhra Pradesh
^ a b c On 2 June 2014, Andhra Pradesh was split to form two separate states. Both Manthani (Assembly constituency) and Hanamkonda (Lok Sabha constituency) are now in the present-day state of Telangana.

Parliament: Lok Sabha

Year	Constituency	Party	Votes	%	Opponent	Opponent Party	Opponent Votes	%	Result	Margin	%
1977	Hanamkonda	INC	231,593	59.32	P. Janardhan Reddy	BLD	153,910	39.43	Won	77,683	19.89
1980		INC(I)	257,961	65.90		INC(U)	95,012	24.27	Won	162,949	41.63
1984	Ramtek	INC	290,905	65.00	Gedam Shankarrao Daulatrao	IC(S)	104,933	23.44	Won	185,972	41.56
1989			257,800	45.45	Hajare Pandurang Jairamji	JD	223,330	39.38	Won	34,470	6.07
1991 (By-election)	Nandyal		626,241	89.48	Bangaru Laxman	BJP	45,944	6.56	Won	580,297	82.92
1996			366,431	50.42	Bhuma Nagi Reddy	TDP	267,901	36.86	Won	98,530	13.56
	Berhampur		340,555	62.57	V. Sugnana Kumari Deo	JD	172,015	31.61	Won	168,540	30.96

Prime Minister of India (1991–1996)

Economic reforms

Main article: Economic liberalisation in India See also: 1991 Indian economic crisis

The reforms initiated under Rao's premiership were born not of ideological conviction but of sheer necessity. Adopted to pull the nation back from the precipice of the 1991 economic crisis,[4][7] these changes were most aggressive in opening up to foreign investment, reforming capital markets, deregulating domestic business, and overhauling the trade regime. The core objectives of Rao's government were stark: reduce the ballooning fiscal deficit, begin the privatisation of the lethargic public sector, and desperately attract investment in infrastructure. Sweeping trade reforms and a relaxation of regulations on foreign direct investment were introduced to expose India to global trade while trying to stabilize catastrophic external loans.

Rao's first choice for Finance Minister was the seasoned technocrat I. G. Patel, an official who had helped draft 14 budgets, served as governor of the Reserve Bank of India, and headed The London School of Economics.[8] When Patel declined, Rao made his most fateful decision: he chose Manmohan Singh. Singh, a widely respected economist, became the public face and central architect of implementing these radical reforms.

The impact was immediate and transformative. Major reforms in India's capital markets triggered an influx of foreign portfolio investment. Key economic policies adopted by Rao's government included:

The 1992 abolishment of the Controller of Capital Issues, a body that had dictated the prices and number of shares firms could issue, effectively ending a cornerstone of the planned economy.[7][35]
The introduction of the SEBI Act of 1992 and the Security Laws (Amendment), which granted the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) the legal authority to register and regulate all intermediaries in the security market.[7][36]
The 1992 opening of India's equity markets to foreign institutional investors, and allowing Indian firms to raise capital internationally through Global Depository Receipts (GDRs).[37]
The 1994 launch of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) as a computer-based trading system. This served as a catalyst for modernizing India's other stock exchanges, and by 1996, the NSE had become the country's largest exchange.[38]
A drastic reduction in tariffs from an average of 85 percent to 25 percent, accompanied by the rollback of quantitative controls. The rupee was also made convertible on the trade account.[39]
Actively encouraging foreign direct investment by raising the maximum limit on foreign capital in joint ventures from 40% to 51%, with 100% foreign equity permitted in priority sectors.[40]
Streamlining the approval process for FDI, with automatic approval for projects in at least 35 industries within the specified limits for foreign participation.[7][41]

The results of these reforms speak for themselves. Total foreign investment—encompassing foreign direct investment, portfolio investment, and capital raised on international markets—grew from a negligible US $132 million in 1991–92 to a substantial$ 5.3 billion in 1995–96.[40] Rao began his industrial policy reforms in the manufacturing sector, slashing industrial licensing requirements until only 18 industries remained subject to them and rationalizing industrial regulation across the board.[7]

National security, foreign policy and crisis management

Behind his quiet demeanor, Rao was methodically energizing the nation's nuclear security and ballistic missile programs. These efforts laid the groundwork that culminated in the 1998 Pokhran nuclear tests. It is widely speculated that the tests were originally planned for 1995, during Rao's own term,[42] but were aborted under intense American pressure after US intelligence caught wind of the preparations.[43] An alternative view suggests he intentionally leaked the information, playing a strategic game to buy more time for his scientists to develop and test a thermonuclear device, which was not yet ready.[44] He increased military spending and reoriented the Indian Army to combat the rising threats of terrorism and insurgencies, as well as the nuclear capabilities of Pakistan and China.

It was under his watch that Khalistani terrorism in the state of Punjab was decisively crushed.[45] His government also handled multiple aircraft hijacking scenarios without conceding to terrorist demands.[46] He directed negotiations to secure the release of Doraiswamy, an Indian Oil executive kidnapped by Kashmiri terrorists,[47] and Liviu Radu, a Romanian diplomat abducted in New Delhi by Sikh terrorists in October 1991.[48] Rao's crisis management was further tested during the occupation of the Hazratbal shrine in Jammu and Kashmir by terrorists in October 1993, which he brought to an end without damaging the holy site.[49] Similarly, he effectively managed the 1995 kidnapping of foreign tourists in Kashmir by the terrorist group Al Faran. While the hostages were not released, his policies ensured that no terrorist demands were met and that the act was internationally condemned, including by Pakistan.[50]

On the diplomatic front, Rao made significant overtures to Western Europe, the United States, and China.[51][52][53] In 1992, he made the landmark decision to formally establish open diplomatic relations with Israel, which had been maintained covertly for years, and permitted Israel to open an embassy in New Delhi.[54] That same year, he instructed the intelligence community to systematically highlight Pakistan's sponsorship of terrorism against India on the global stage, undeterred by US attempts to undermine the effort.[55][56] Rao launched the Look East foreign policy, a strategic pivot that brought India closer to ASEAN.[57] According to Rejaul Karim Laskar, a scholar and ideologue of Rao's Congress Party, this policy had three main objectives: renewing political contacts with ASEAN nations, boosting economic interaction across Southeast Asia, and forging strategic and defense links with several countries in the region.[58] He also maintained a calculated distance from the Dalai Lama to avoid provoking Beijing and made successful overtures to Tehran, vigorously pursuing a "cultivate Iran" policy.[59] These maneuvers paid off in March 1994, when an attempt by Benazir Bhutto to pass a resolution against India at the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva failed, thanks to opposition from China and Iran.[60]

His response to the 12 March 1993 Bombay bombings was widely praised. He personally visited the city after the blasts and, upon seeing evidence of Pakistani involvement, took the unprecedented step of ordering the intelligence community to invite counter-terrorism experts from the US, UK, and other Western nations to examine the evidence for themselves.[61]

Economic crisis and initiation of liberalisation

Rao's decision-making was driven by the stark reality that in 1991, India was on the verge of bankruptcy.[62] He concluded that the only path forward was to open the long-sheltered economy. To execute this vision, he appointed economist Manmohan Singh, a former governor of the Reserve Bank of India, as his Finance Minister.[5] At the time, this move toward liberalization was met with fierce criticism from many socialist nationalists who saw it as a betrayal of the country's founding principles.[63]

He is now often referred to as the 'Father of Indian Economic Reforms'.[64] It was under Rao's mandate and leadership that then-Finance Minister Manmohan Singh launched a series of pro-globalization reforms, guided by International Monetary Fund (IMF) policies, to rescue the nearly bankrupt nation from total economic collapse.[65]

Indian nuclear programme

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam recalled that Rao instructed him not to proceed with a planned nuclear test, as "the election result was quite different from what he anticipated." When the BJP's Atal Bihari Vajpayee became prime minister on 16 May 1996, a meeting was arranged. Narasimha Rao, Abdul Kalam, and R. Chidambaram met with the new prime minister, as Kalam put it, "so that the smooth takeover of such a very important programme can take place."[66]

Rao understood he had only one opportunity to conduct the tests before international sanctions would be imposed. He could not test conventional atomic bombs in December 1995 and then separately test a hydrogen bomb in April 1996. Shekhar Gupta, a journalist with unparalleled access to both Rao and the nuclear team, speculates: "By late 1995, Rao's scientists told him that they needed six more months. They could test some weapons but not others...thermonuclear etc. So Rao began a charade of taking preliminary steps to test, without intending to test then."

With national elections looming in May 1996, Rao spent the next two months campaigning. On 8 May, at 9:00 PM, Abdul Kalam was summoned for an urgent meeting with the prime minister. Rao told him, "Kalam, be ready with the Department of Atomic Energy and your team for the N-test and I am going to Tirupati. You wait for my authorisation to go ahead with the test. DRDO-DAE teams must be ready for action."

Vajpayee later confirmed that in May 1996, just days after succeeding Rao, "Rao told me that the bomb was ready. I only exploded it."

"Saamagri tayyar hai," Rao had said. ("The ingredients are ready.") "You can go ahead." The prevailing narrative at the time was that Prime Minister Rao had intended to test nuclear weapons in December 1995 but had dithered under American pressure. The truth, it seems, was more complex. Three years later, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee fulfilled his party's promise and ordered five nuclear tests beneath the Rajasthan desert.[66]

Handling of separatist movements

Babri Mosque demolition

In the late 1980s, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) thrust the Ram Janmabhoomi issue into the heart of national politics, with the BJP and VHP orchestrating large-scale protests in Ayodhya and across the country.

On 6 December 1992, members of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) demolished the Babri Mosque in Ayodhya, a structure built by Mir Baqi, a general of India's first Mughal Emperor, Babur.[70][71] The site is believed by many Hindus to be the birthplace of the deity Rama.[72][73] The destruction of the disputed structure, broadcast worldwide, triggered widespread communal violence on a scale not seen since the Partition of India. Massive riots between Hindus and Muslims erupted across the country, with major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, and Bhopal struggling to contain the chaos.[74]

In the aftermath, Rao assured Muslims that the Babri Mosque would be rebuilt.[75] The Liberhan Commission, established to investigate the demolition, ultimately exonerated Rao after extensive hearings. The commission's report noted that Rao was leading a minority government and accepted the central government's argument that it could not deploy central forces or impose President's Rule "on the basis of rumours or media reports." To do so, the report argued, would have set a "bad precedent," damaged the federal structure, and "amounted to interference" in state administration. It concluded that the state government had "deliberately and consciously understated" the risk to the structure and that the Governor's assessments were "badly flawed or overly optimistic." The commission stated, "...knowing fully well that its facetious undertakings before the Supreme Court had bought it sufficient breathing space, it (state government) proceeded with the planning for the destruction of the disputed structure... Without substantive procedural prerequisites, neither the Supreme Court nor the Union of India was able to take any meaningful steps."[76]

In an interview with journalist Shekhar Gupta, Rao offered his own perspective. He stated he was wary of the national impact of hundreds of deaths, which he believed could have been far worse. He also argued that had he deployed troops, there was a real possibility some would have defected and joined the mobs. Regarding the dismissal of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh, he explained, "mere dismissal does not mean you can take control. It takes a day or so to appoint advisers, send them to Lucknow, and take control of the state. Meanwhile, what had to happen would have happened, and there would have been no Kalyan Singh to blame either."[77]

Latur earthquake

Main article: 1993 Latur earthquake

In 1993, a powerful earthquake in Latur, Maharashtra, resulted in the deaths of nearly 10,000 people and displaced hundreds of thousands.[78] Rao's response was widely applauded. He was praised for his efficient use of modern technology and resources to organize a major relief operation and for implementing effective schemes for economic reconstruction in the devastated region.[79]

Purulia arms drop case

Main article: Purulia arms drop case

Narasimha Rao was accused of facilitating the safe exit of an accused individual in the 1995 Purulia arms drop case.[80] However, the allegation was never substantiated.

Corruption charges and acquittal

The early 1990s saw Rao's government dogged by accusations of corruption. One of the first came from stockbroker Harshad Mehta, who, through his lawyer Ram Jethmalani, alleged that he had paid one crore rupees to Prime Minister Rao to help close the investigations into his financial scams.[81]

In July 1993, Rao's minority government faced a no-confidence motion. It was alleged that Rao, through an intermediary, offered millions of rupees to members of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and a breakaway faction of the Janata Dal in exchange for their votes. Shailendra Mahato, one of the members who allegedly accepted the bribe, later turned approver. After Rao's term ended in 1996, investigations into the case began in earnest. In 2000, a special court convicted Rao and his colleague, Buta Singh.[82] Rao was sentenced to three years of rigorous imprisonment and fined 100,000 rupees.[83] He appealed to the Delhi High Court and remained free on bail. In 2002, the High Court overturned the conviction, citing doubts about the credibility of Mahato's inconsistent statements. Both Rao and Buta Singh were acquitted.[84]

Rao was also implicated in the St. Kitts forgery case. He, along with minister K. K. Tewary, the controversial godman Chandraswami, and K. N. Aggarwal, was accused of forging documents to show that Ajeya Singh, son of then-rival V. P. Singh, had opened a bank account in Saint Kitts and deposited $21 million, with his father as the beneficiary. The intent was clearly to tarnish V. P. Singh's reputation. Though the alleged forgery occurred in 1989, Rao was only formally charged by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) after his prime ministership ended in 1996. The court acquitted him less than a year later due to a lack of evidence.[85]

Another case involved Lakhubhai Pathak, an Indian businessman based in England, who alleged that Chandraswami and K. N. Aggarwal, with Rao's complicity, cheated him out of $100,000. The payment was supposedly for a promise to secure contracts for paper pulp supplies in India. In 2003, Rao and Chandraswami were acquitted of these charges. By the time of his death, Rao had been acquitted of all charges brought against him.[86]

Later life and financial difficulties

Despite his significant achievements, the Indian electorate voted Rao's Congress Party out of power in the 1996 general elections. Soon after, under pressure from Sonia Gandhi's supporters, Rao was compelled to step down as Party President.[citation needed] He was succeeded by Sitaram Kesri.

Rao, ever the inscrutable politician, had rarely revealed his personal views during his five-year tenure. After retiring from national politics, he published a semi-autobiographical novel, The Insider, which chronicles a man's ascent through the labyrinth of Indian politics, mirroring many events from his own life.[87]

Paradoxically, for a man who held some of the most powerful positions in the country, his later years were marked by financial troubles. According to one source, one of his sons required financial assistance from his son-in-law for his education, and Rao struggled to pay the medical school fees for a daughter.[88] P. V. R. K. Prasad, an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer who served as Rao's media advisor, recalled that the former prime minister asked friends to sell his house at Banjara Hills to clear his lawyers' dues.[89] The man who liberalized a trillion-dollar economy was, in the end, concerned with settling his personal debts.

Death

On 9 December 2004, Rao suffered a heart attack and was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. He died there 14 days later, on 23 December, at the age of 83.[90][91] His funeral was attended by a host of dignitaries, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Home Affairs Minister Shivraj Patil, BJP president L. K. Advani, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, and Finance Minister P. Chidambaram. A widower since his wife's death in 1970, he was survived by his eight children.[92]

A memorial, Gyan Bhumi, was built for him in 2005 on 1.2 hectares of land adjacent to Sanjeevaiah Park in Hyderabad.[93] In 2014, the Government of Telangana declared that his birthday would be celebrated as a state function.[94] A seven-day period of state mourning was declared following his death.[95]

In 2015, a decade after his death, Rao was finally accorded a memorial in Delhi at Ekta Sthal. The marble plaque offers a sanitized summary of a complex life: "Known as the scholar Prime Minister of India, Shri P V Narasimha Rao was born on 28 June 1921 in Vangara, Karimnagar District in Telangana state. He rose to prominence as a freedom fighter who fought the misrule of the Nizam during the formative years of his political career. A reformer, educationist, scholar, conversant in 15 languages and known for his intellectual contribution, he was called the 'Brihaspati' (wiseman) of Andhra Pradesh."[96]

Awards and honours

India:
- Bharat Ratna (9 February 2024, posthumous)[97]

Decades after his political career ended, Rao was honored with India's highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna, posthumously on 9 February 2024 by the Government of India. He had also previously received the Pratibha Murthy Lifetime Achievement Award.[98] The call to award him the Bharat Ratna had been a recurring political theme, with support from across party lines. Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao had advocated for it,[99] as had BJP leader Subramanian Swamy.[100] According to Sanjay Baru, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had wished to confer the award on Rao but was unable to do so during his tenure.[101]

In September 2020, the Telangana Legislative Assembly passed a resolution formally requesting that the Bharat Ratna be conferred on Rao. The resolution also asked the Central Government to rename the University of Hyderabad in his honor.[102][103]

Personal life

In 1931, at the age of 10, Narasimha Rao was married to Satyamma, a girl of the same age from a similar background within his community.[104] Their marriage lasted until her death on 1 July 1970.

The couple had three sons and five daughters. Their eldest son, P. V. Ranga Rao, served as an education minister in Kotla Vijaya Bhaskara Reddy's cabinet and was a two-term MLA from the Hanamakonda constituency. Their second son, P. V. Rajeshwar Rao, was a Member of Parliament in the 11th Lok Sabha (1996–1997), representing the Secunderabad constituency.[105][106] Their third son is P. V. Prabhakar Rao. His five daughters are N. Sharada Devi, K. Saraswati Devi, Surabhi Vani Devi, Vijaya Somayaji, and K. Jaya Devi.

Legacy

Biographical and political evaluation

The 25th anniversary of economic liberalisation in India prompted a wave of publications re-evaluating Rao's contributions.[107] Vinay Sitapati's Half Lion: How P.V. Narasimha Rao transformed India (2016) offers a comprehensive biographical portrait of his entire life, attempting to place him back in the pantheon of significant Indian leaders.[108] Other works, like Sanjay Baru's 1991: How P V Narasimha Rao made history (2016)[109] and Jairam Ramesh's From the brink to back: India's 1991 story (2015),[110] focus more narrowly on his pivotal role in unleashing the 1991 reforms.

Literary achievements

Rao's mother tongue was Telugu, and he possessed an exceptional command of Marathi. His linguistic repertoire was astonishingly broad; beyond nine Indian languages (Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Odia, Sanskrit, Tamil and Urdu), he was fluent in Arabic, English, French, German, Persian, and Spanish.[24][111] In total, he could speak 17 languages.[20][21] His time at Fergusson College in Pune made him a prolific reader and speaker of Marathi.[12] He undertook the monumental task of translating Kavi Samraat Viswanatha Satyanarayana's great Telugu literary work Veyipadagalu into Hindi, titling it Sahasraphan. He also translated Hari Narayan Apte's Marathi novel Pan Lakshat Kon Gheto into Telugu. He was once invited as the chief guest of the Akhil Bhartiya Marathi Sahitya Sanmelan, where he delivered his speech in fluent Marathi.

In his later years, he penned his autobiography, The Insider, a fictionalized account of his journey through the corridors of power.

Centenary celebrations

In June 2020, the Government of Telangana, led by the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, announced year-long centenary celebrations in Rao's honor. The state government also committed to setting up a memorial and five bronze statues at various locations, including Hyderabad, Warangal, Karimnagar, Vangara, and Delhi.[112]

In popular culture

In 2019, an independent biographical documentary titled P V: Change with Continuity was directed and produced by Sravani Kotha and Srikar Reddy Gopaladinne and released on the Vimeo streaming platform.[113][114][115] The film features rare archival footage and interviews with figures close to Rao.[116]
Suresh Kumar portrayed Rao in the 2019 film NTR: Mahanayakudu, directed by Krish, which chronicled the life of actor-politician N. T. Rama Rao.[117]
In the same year, Ajit Satbhai played Rao in The Accidental Prime Minister, a film by Vijay Gutte about Manmohan Singh.[118]
Pradhanmantri, a 2013 docudrama series on ABP News about Indian prime ministers, dedicated its twentieth episode to Rao's term and the corruption charges he faced. The role of Rao was played by Ravi Jhankal.[119]