Now Congress leaders also agree that PV Narsimha Rao the fomrer Prime Ministry from Telangana who created history must be recognised. After the Congress leadership abandoned former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, most party members kept a safe distance from him.
Now that a fair amount of time has elapsed since Rao passed away, many party leaders are talking admiringly about Rao and the bold steps he took to usher in economic reforms. In fact, a former Congress minister in the Rao government, known for his proximity to the Gandhi family, admitted recently that he had suggested to former PM Manmohan Singh that Rao should be given a Bharat Ratna.
What is interesting is that the senior party leader had no qualms in talking about his suggestion. This would have been unthinkable some years ago. However, many Congress leaders continue to nurse a grouse against Rao though they acknowledge that he was the real hero of the 1991 reforms.
Former finance minister P. Chidambaram said as much recently while speaking after the release of Sanjaya Baru’s book, 1991: How P.V. Narasimha Rao Made History. But Mr Chidambaram was also quick to list Rao’s deficiencies. Describing Rao as an enigmatic person, he said the former PM’s famous line to all was, “One day I’ll tell you why I did what I did.”
That day never came, he added. When Ashok Gehlot was Rajasthan CM, his government followed a standard drill regarding the gifts, which were to be given to visiting dignitaries. The present always included a copy of Mahatma Gandhi’s book, My Experiments with Truth and some khadi products packed in a khadi bag. In fact, his office was known to have a ready stock of such packages to avoid any last-minute rush.
