The BJP has killed two birds in one stone by posthumously bestowing the country’s highest civilian award Bharat Ratna on former Prime Minister late P V Narasimha Rao. Anyone would agree that BJP has caught the Opposition in a pickle. While singing the tune of a Congress-free India the BJP has given the highest honour to the former leader of the same party. This is a seasoned political move from the BJP who have tried to give out a message that they do acknowledge the leaders who have contributed in the growth of the nation regardless of their party membership. In fact, Rao was the first prime minister from the Congress – whose surname did not end with either Gandhi or Nehru – to complete his tenure as PM.
Despite having the entire country’s empathy after Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination by LTTE terrorists in 1991 at Tamil Nadu’s Perambur, the Congress did not have a majority in the Lok Sabha although the party won 244 seats out of 534. It was important for the country’s oldest political party to have a South Indian leader as the face of the Prime Minister to stabilise the Congress-led government at the Centre. This need stamped Congress’ senior leader from Andhra Pradesh P V Narasimha’s candidacy for the prime ministerial post, which he officially assumed on June 21, 1991.
Rao’s tenure was known as both controversial and visionary. While he was praised for introducing various liberal reforms to globalise the Indian economy, he was also criticised over handling of the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid matter which saw the rise of the BJP. Many believe that the Babri Masjid demolition would not have happened had Rao not permitted Karseva near the debated site. Rao and his government were accused of not handling the situation wisely when Karsevaks declared to organise a programme of laying the foundation for Ram Mandir on the controversial site on December 6, 1992. Babri Masjid’s demolition triggered riots all over the Indian subcontinent, including two perilous incidents in Mumbai which claimed lives of many Hindus and Muslims. This led to an even more gruesome series of 12 bomb blasts in Mumbai which took place on March 12, 1993. These incidents critically damaged the relations between Hindu and Muslim communities which affected the Congress party. This created tension between Rao and Congress’ high command as these incidents brought the party’s political existence in danger.
Now, this was a controversial side of Rao’s tenure but he extraordinarily handled the extreme financial crisis which the country was going through at the time. The rate of inflation had reached 17% while economic growth was down to mere 1.1%. The situation with foreign exchange reserves was abysmal to the point that the provision for the country to import was only one week. It was a near impossible task for the government to repay foreign debt and the interest on it. This is where Rao proved his mettle and appointed finance expert Manmohan Singh as Finance Minister in his cabinet. Along with Singh, Rao took reformatory decisions which totally brought a new revolution in the Indian economy. He took bold steps to bring change in Nehruvian socialist economic policies which were in practice since the time of the country’s Independence. Identifying that the future belongs to America-led liberalisation, he took decisions which would create an ideal environment for the Indian economy to thrive. He also opened many public businesses for investments from the private sector as he understood the shortcomings of the working system in public businesses.
Whether it was the formation of SEBI or the improvement of the computerised system in the National Stock Exchange, his decisions soon started to show positive results. His decision-making ability, paired with his foresight, led to the Indian rupee being depreciated by 30% within a month of his tenure to battle the economic crisis. NRIs moved their savings to India as a form of investment due to better incentives.
The Narasimha Rao government largely succeeded in overcoming the economic crisis with flying colours, while Manmohan Singh emerged as the saviour of the nation when it needed one the most. At the same time, Rao’s government received tremendous support and trust from investors and middle-class masses which led to a future-proof environment to adapt to America-led globalisation. However, Congress sidelined Rao and even after his death within eight months of the UPA government led by Manmohan Singh coming to power, his body was not kept at the headquarters of All India Congress Committee. His last rites were performed in Hyderabad. The Modi government awarding Rao the country’s highest honour will definitely reopen these wounds. BJP’s attempt at showing people how Congress treated its own leader and how they, despite being a rival party, honoured his contribution to the nation will certainly help the party gain some leverage in Southern parts of India.
