Pamulaparti Venkata Narasimha Rao was Prime Minister of India from 1991 to 1996 and was the country’s first non-Hindi belt Prime Minister. He was the eighth Indian PM. He oversaw one of the most turbulent phases in India in recent memory with relative success.
- P V Narasimha Rao, had been central minister in the offices of Indira and Rajiv Gandhi and generally regarded as an appropriate successor to Rajiv Gandhi.
- He was the first Indian Prime Minister to come from Andhra Pradesh. His foresight had thrown India on a path of liberalization, the undulations of which have been felt so far.
- However, beyond the identity of a lawyer-turned-politician, Rao also left the unmistakable legacy of an academic and a linguist. As we celebrate the 95th birthday of the father of Indian economic reform,
Here are some points, you should know about him
- Born on June 28, 1921, near Karimnagar, in erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, PV Narasimha Rao went to Fergusson College in Pune. He then attended the universities of Bombay and Nagpur, from where he obtained a law degree.
- Narasimha Rao was commonly known as the “modern Chanakya” for being visionary and carrying out difficult economic and political reforms at a time when India was undergoing one of the most serious economic crises.
- He could speak 9 Indian languages (Telugu, Hindi, Oriya, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Sanskrit, Tamil and Urdu) and 8 foreign languages (English, French, Arabic, Spanish, German, Greek, Latin and Persian).
- He joined the Congress Party as an activist to fight for independence from Great Britain and was also a member of the Andhra Pradesh State Legislative Assembly. Before becoming Prime Minister of India, Rao represented Andhra Pradesh at Lok Sabha.
- Rao played a vital role in the freedom struggle against the Nizam that ruled Hyderabad in the 1940s. With his cousin, he ran a Telugu weekly called Kakatiya Patrika from 1948 to 1955.
- After Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in 1991, Congress elected Rao as chief and then assumed the office of Prime Minister. Narasimha Rao was the first Indian Prime Minister to lead a minority government for an entire period.
- Rao began his mission to reshape the Indian economy by transforming it into a free market. It had laid the foundation for trade liberalization and the reintegration of the Indian economy into the world economy. Under the Rao government, the rupee became a trading account.
- Initiated the “look east” policy. It was during his tenure that India recognized and rekindled its ties to Southeast Asia. The idea of a nuclear test in India was first mentioned by Narsimha Rao, although it was implemented by Atal Bihari Vyajpayee.
About Post Author
More Stories
Delhi University to Launch One-Year Postgraduate Programme in 2026
CLAT 2025 Counselling Registration Window Closes Today
IIM CAT Result 2024 | 14 Candidates Score Perfect 100 Percentile