The full name of Shri P V Narasimha Rao was Pamulapathi Venkata Narasimha Rao. Pamulapathi Venkata Narasimha Rao became the ninth Prime Minister of the Republic of India. He was the first South Indian who got this post without membership of any House. People from this can gauge his political efficiency. Narasimha Rao was a skilled politician and thinker who came out of almost five decades’ political ups and downs.
Narasimha Rao was born on June 28, 1921, in Bangara in the Karimnagar district of Andhra Pradesh. He was from a farming family. Shri Rao received his higher education at Osmania, Bombay, and Nagpur Universities. Later, he also earned the title of “Sahitya Ratna“. Shri Narasimha Rao made important achievements in the field of literature. He knew more than a dozen languages. Shri Narasimha Rao was a writer by nature, but due to one incident, he had to enter politics.
Sri Rao’s father’s name is Pamulaparthi Sitarama Rao, and his mother’s name was Pamulaparthi Rukmini (Rukminamma). Sri Rao was married to Satyamma Rao, with whom he had three sons and five daughters.
Beginning of political life
The incident dates back to the days when the Nizam of Hyderabad banned the song Vande Mataram, and it hurt the self-respect of Shri Narasimha Rao. After this, he jumped into the freedom movement as a Congress worker. Due to his enthusiasm, hard work, dedication, and organizational qualities, he was made the General Secretary of the Hyderabad State Congress Committee.
He was a member of the Karimnagar Legislative Assembly for almost two decades. In 1971, he took over as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and discharged his duties keeping in mind the noble goal of public service. In 1977, Shri Rao was elected a member of the Lok Sabha. The then Prime Minister, Mrs. Indira Gandhi, had tested his talent, so he entrusted Mr. Narasimha Rao to the Ministry of External Affairs and Home Affairs. Due to being unwell, Shri Narasimha Rao did not participate in the 1991 general election, but something else was approved by luck.
Congress won the election, but Shri Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated. Due to this incident, there was an atmosphere of political uncertainty in the country. In this hour of crisis, the eyes of the politicians went to Shri Narasimha Rao. Then Shri Rao was unanimously elected as the leader of the Congress Party and the Prime Minister of India.
Shri Narasimha Rao had made up his mind to retire from politics, but the nation was in trouble at that time, so he could not postpone the nation’s call. At such a time, he showed his political and organizational ability and gave a new direction to the country.
How Shri Narsimha Rao deals with problems?
Apart from political and communal problems, economic problems were also open in the country at that time. To deal with them, Shri Narasimha Rao entrusted the responsibility of the Finance Ministry to the skilled economist Dr. Manmohan Singh. To get rid of the country’s economic problem, Shri Narasimha Rao is also called the father of Indian economic reforms. ‘Mr. Narasimha Rao appointed Subramanian Swamy, an opposition party member, as the chairman of the Commission on Labor Standards and International Trade. It was the first time that the ruling party gave a member of an opposition party a cabinet rank post.
He sent opposition leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee to represent India at the United Nations meeting in Geneva during his reign. All this work shows his fantastic ability to work and handle the country. He implemented liberal policies in the country, due to which the country’s economy reached a state of equilibrium within a few days. Trade and industrial agreements were signed as a result of the friendship treaty between Russia and India. Shri Narasimha Rao prevented the tension from spread across the country due to the Ayodhya incident, and the government formed an elected government in the terror-stricken Punjab. Shri Rao brought terrorism under control.
He was a great Poet and Writer
Shri Narasimha Rao believed that it is essential to have literature, music, and art in life. He was also a scholar, poet, and writer. Mr. Rao rarely spoke of his personal views during his tenure. After retiring from the country’s politics, he started writing work. He published a novel called The Insider. This novel tells about the rise of a person in politics. In this, incidents similar to the life of Shri Narasimha Rao are also seen. The President of India, Abdul Kalam described Rao as a “patriotic statesman” who believed that the nation was more significant than the political system.
Honour and awards of Shri Narasimha Rao
The people of the country respect him greatly because of the help that Shri Rao had provided to the country by staying in politics. Several books have been published to evaluate his contribution to the country. Half Lion: How P.V. Narasimha Rao transformed India by Vinay Sitapati has changed the picture of his whole life. The Telangana government has announced to organize a year-long centenary celebration of Rao in 2020. The government has set up a memorial and five bronze statues at various places, including Hyderabad, Warangal, Karimnagar, Wangara, and Delhi.
Shri Narasimha Rao has been conferred with Pratibha Murthy Lifetime Achievement Award. Sahitya Akademi awarded Shri Rao for his work Sahastra Fun. Many people from the party line have supported giving him Bharat Ratna. BJP leader Subramanian Swamy has also supported the move to confer Bharat Ratna on Shri Narasimha Rao. Apart from this, Telangana Chief Minister Chandrashekhar Rao also supported Mr. Rao for the Bharat Ratna. Telangana passed a resolution in the assembly to confer Bharat Ratna in 2020.
Shri Narasimha Rao died of a heart attack on December 23, 2004, in the capital Delhi. Indian politics will always remember a talented Prime Minister in the form of Shri Narasimha Rao.
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