It is said he could speak 17 languages, deal with complex issues without taking any decision and more importantly he stood up to the dictates coming from the dynasty at 10 Janpath. Pamulaparti Venkata Narasimha Rao was a man who never got his due either from his party or the nation. Born in Lakinepally village near Narsampet in Warangal District of what is now Telangana, PVN as he goes by his famous initials was adopted into an agrarian family, and went on to become a journalist after completing Master’s degree in Law. I would not like to bore you with inane details of his political career which began as an MLA of Andhra Pradesh Assembly in 1957, culminating with ascendancy as Prime Minister of India, the first from southern India.

When India’s history is truly written, without any influence, the role of PV Narasimha Rao will be right up there, above Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Manmohan Singh. He literally walked into a disaster in the making, as India was on the brink of an economic catastrophe. He appointed Manmohan Singh as the Finance Minister to do a turn-around of fortunes and opened up the floodgates of economic liberalisation. For those who knew him personally, Rao was a man who believed in himself and also backed his team, no matter what the consequences were. Enough has been written about the way he clinically cleaned up the stock markets and bringing with it a professional regulatory mechanism, opened up FDI to over 3 dozen sectors – and the results were there to see.

Often referred to as the Chanakya of Indian politics, Rao tripped in the quicksand of Babri Masjid, which in a way marked shades of sectarian politics. In hindsight, there was nothing much he could have done without antagonizing one or the other parties in the disputed structure. To his credit Rao, did the closing act of the terrorism in Punjab and dealt with Mumbai blasts in a professional manner. There was nothing much to write home on the international diplomacy with the Americans arm-twisting Rao to call off the Pokhran nuclear test. He also used unlawful means to keep his government alive by bribing JMM MPs, but then who doesn’t do it these days of Aaya Ram, Gaya Ram. But the corruption taint did not extend to his personal life and not many are aware that Rao faced many a trying time cobbling up money to educate his children and had to sell his house in Hyderabad to pay off the lawyers in the JMM case.

But, if you can discount all that in what many consider was his stellar achievement, of being able to survive and take his government all the way by completing the 5 year term. Naturally, that was not to the liking of the dynasty which had its way of ordering the minions who were ready to crawl when asked to bend. After the loss in 1996 election, Rao was forced to take the blame and 10 Janpath replaced him as Congress President with Sitaram Kesari – who we all know had to face the insult of being physically thrown out of AICC office. Rao paid the price for his defiance of the dynasty, which ensured that his body was not allowed into the AICC office and worse, did not allow a state funeral due to a Prime Minister in New Delhi. Sonia Gandhi who was smarting in anger that her remote control did not work under Rao, ensured that his body was taken to Hyderabad for the funeral.

For Narasimha Rao, life was unfair once he became an ex-Prime Minister, not only did his party leadership ensure that his legacy was erased from history, but even the nation forgot the man who ensured that we became an economic powerhouse. It’s not that Manmohan Singh did any better, when it came to getting respect from the dynasty. It’s time, we write up a new page in history with Pamulaparti Venkata Narasimha Rao’s name in golden letters. In a country where one family has everything named after its members, all Narasimha Rao got was a flyover in Hyderabad in his name. Hopefully Modi Sarkar should reward the modern day Chanakya with a well-deserved Bharat Ratna. 10 Janpath will not like it.