P. V. Narasimha Rao
|
P. V. Narasimha Rao | |
| Term in Office: | June 20, 1991 - May 16, 1996 |
| Predecessor: | Chandra Shekhar |
| Successor: | Atal Behari Vajpayee |
| Date of Birth: | June 28, 1921 |
| Place of Birth: | Karimnagar, Andhra Pradesh |
| Political Party: | Congress (I) |
Pamulaparthi Venkata Narasimha Rao (born June 28,1921) was the ninth Prime Minister of the Republic of India.
After starting his political career as an active freedom fighter, Rao served brief stints of cabinet and chief ministerialships for the state of Andhra Pradesh. He then rose to the national level by serving in several ministries, foreign affairs significantly, in the cabinets of Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi.
After the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi and the general elections of 1991, Rao was invited to head a minority government. He set a record of being the first non-Nehru-Gandhi-dynastic person to serve as a prime-minister for five continuous years.
Rao's initial years in the office were characterized with terrible lack of foreign reserves and utterly stagnated Indian economy. He used these difficult financial times to push forward several long-standing economic reforms. Rao helped his able financial minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and finance secretary Montek Singh Ahluwalia in pushing forward the reforms by winning political consensus. The Indian economy started blooming within days of discarding several of the old protectionist measures as the GDP and economy grew by an average of 5.5%, a growth rate that was sustained over the entire decade for the first time in Indian economy.
Rao, however took a slowturn in pushing forward more reforms by mid-1993.
Rao was charged in several bribery cases, after his tenure, although he has now been acquitted on all charges.
A polyglot, Rao can read and write 17 languages. He has translated Jnanpeeth award winning Telugu novel Veyi Padagalu (Literally-Thousand Hoods) into Hindi as Sahasr Phan. Rao got his Bachelors and Masters in Law from Osmania University and Mumbai/Nagpur Universities respectively.
Rao rarely aired his views and opinions during his 5 year tenure. He was often called Chanakya by the media. After his retirement from Indian politics Rao published a book named "The Insider." The controversial book, which follows the career of a person as he rises through the ranks of Indian politics, resembled events from Rao's own life. Rao however denied any connection.
Quotes
- "When I don't make a decision, it's not that I don't think about it. I think about it and make a decision not to make a decision."
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