- The former Prime Minister Late PV Narasimha Rao’s birth centenary on 28th June was so low-key that it hardly garnered a decent enough reportage amply demonstrating how a reformist, visionary, amiable, intellectual, erudite, multilingual, affable, revered, and quintessentially consummate statesman continues to be underwhelmingly treated by the ungrateful country. After all these years, the extraordinarily gifted and one of the foremost gentleman political luminary the country has ever produced persistently faces lackluster limelight even from the party he so distinguishingly represented for decades of services is hard to fathom.
PC: Vijai Laxmi
- That the Indian National Congress looks another way except by perfunctory acknowledgment during the birth and death anniversary of a former PM who led the Grand Old Party for a full five-year term fighting against all odds is a sad reality reflecting the general neglect extended to the nobleman. Reams and reams have been written on PVN’s, as he was fondly referred to, contributions towards ushering in revolutionary liberalization and globalization paving way for the opening of our economy in the early 1990s. He was the brain behind solidly backing the then Finance Minister Manmohan Singh’s move to throw open the nation’s economy and who later went on to serve the nation as two-term Prime Minister is not lost on the comprehending lot.
- Though modern history duly recognizes wholesomely and fulsomely the contributions of Manmohan Singh in glorious terms, there is an undisguised effort to undermine the equally, if not more defining, contributions of Rao for extending unstinted support for those historical moves under tremendous pressure from the dubious lobbies. Because of his known and well-documented reluctance to pursue obsequiousness towards the Family antagonized the latter and followers to such an extent that the astute politician-statesman was dumped unceremoniously by the party soon after his miraculously full stint. Rao went into complete oblivion for want of acceptance is as shocking and unacceptable ill-treatment that could have been avoided totally.
PC: Soutik Biswas
- Most astonishingly, the Grand Old Party never accorded fulsome praise nor upheld his pathbreaking services in subsequent years during elections or on different platforms/forums showcasing party ideologies speaks volumes about a bitter relationship that ended so ignominiously for the patriarch. If ever anybody deserved a great honor for initiating ground-breaking measures in freeing the country from the clutches of prolongingly stunted growth, it is none other than PV Narasimha Rao. Unfortunately, he was denied that deserving respect. Forget about recognizing mountainous contributions in reshaping the country’s fortunes, the GOP miserably failed to treat Rao graciously even during his passing away is a definite blot on the dynastic party that can never be erased forever.
- However, the ruling dispensation at the Centre should make every conceivable effort at rectifying this glaring anomaly by leaving no stone unturned whilst highlighting those gargantuan contributions of PVN helping the nation position itself on the path to high growth. The present generation should not be deprived nor be kept in the dark of a remarkable statesman whose shrewd maneuvers helped enormously in shaping modern India as it stands today. Long live the inspirational memories of PV Narasimha Rao!
