Remembering PV Narasimha Rao: The Forgotten Prime Minister

Eleven years ago, a former Prime Minister breathed his last in New Delhi. He was 83. The veteran politician had been an integral part of the Indian National Congress since independence. A former Chief Minister and holder of several Cabinet portfolios, he served as India’s 9th Prime Minister from 1991 to 1996, overseeing a crucial period of economic transformation and social upheaval. But Congress leaders directed the family to cremate him in Hyderabad – not in Delhi where most Prime Ministers and public servants had been cremated. His body was not even allowed inside the AICC building in the capital. It was the final humiliation of Pamulaparti Venkata Narasimha Rao.

PV Narasimha Rao was about to retire from national politics in 1991 when Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated. Following Mr Gandhi’s death, Rao led a minority Government at the Centre as Prime Minister of one of the most crucial administrations in Indian history.

Rao’s tenure as Prime Minister would witness several historic events including the 1991 economic reforms, insurgency in Kashmir, the demolition of the Babri mosque and the 1993 Latur earthquake. Being the first Prime Minister from non-Hindi-speaking South India, historians have noted the uniqueness of Rao’s Prime Ministership. He managed to contain opposition from both within his party and outside even as he led a minority Government which struggled to administer an India reeling under economic and social crises.

The significance of his tenure can be broadly classified into four categories:
• 1991 economic reforms: the most important event in modern India’s economic history. With the help of Finance Minister Manmohan Singh, PM Rao dismantled India’s License Raj, transitioning India from a socialist-inspired economy to a market-oriented economy. He reduced import tariffs and taxes, expanded private enterprise and attracted foreign investment. By doing so, Rao managed to save an almost-bankrupt India from economic collapse. The reforms that began in 1991 are still ongoing, as Indian enterprises continue to expand and GDP per capita continues to increase. Critics have blamed India’s rising inequality on the reforms, but it is established that the advent of an entrepreneurial India touted as a future superpower would not have been possible without the 1991 economic reforms.
• Babri Masjid demolition: The Ram Janmabhoomi debate climaxed on 6 December 1992 when religious activists tore down the disputed 16th-century Babri mosque in Ayodhya, claiming it to be the birthplace of Lord Rama. The following months saw the most brutal Hindu-Muslim riots of post-Partition India, killing at least 2000 and displacing many more. Many criticized the Rao administration for failing to quell the riots.
• Foreign policy: Rao launched the Look East policy which was subsequently championed by future Governments including the current Modi administration. He revitalized India’s diplomatic relations with Europe, China and the US. He advocated Indian intelligence to bring Pakistan’s sponsorship of terrorism to the attention of the international community. His diplomatic coups with Israel and Iran are epitomes of his foreign policy credentials.
• National security: The Rao administration introduced India’s first anti-terrorist legislation in the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA). In a Punjab reeling under a separatist movement which had already claimed 50,000 lives, Rao held elections even against popular misgivings. The State elections of February 2002 were followed by a collapse of militancy in Punjab. He followed a similar strategy in J&K, but to partial success. Kashmiri insurgency was controlled, but the State continued to be a security nightmare. The administration’s reaction to the 1993 Bombay blasts was lauded for its efficiency and immediacy. The Rao Government also set a trend for increased military spending to combat terrorism and militancy.
In spite of Rao’s eventful administration, he has largely been ignored by his party. A victim of intra-party politics, Rao, political columnists argue, was always an ‘outsider’ for the Gandhi family-obsessed Congress. A prime example of this would be 28 December 2009 when Sonia Gandhi delivered a speech in Delhi commemorating 125 years since the party’s formation. Mrs Gandhi praised the contributions of all Congress Prime Ministers except for Rao. She painted Rajiv Gandhi as the actual architect of the economic reforms, publicly undermining Rao’s legacy.

“Despite his caricature as being indecisive, [Narasimha Rao] was one of the most decisive leaders this nation has seen. On all crucial issues, he took decisions that have continued to shape India’s rise over the last two decades. Manmohan Singh may be touted as the father of Indian economic reforms; but as Singh has himself acknowledged, it was Rao who fathered the process. Singh was an economic technocrat with little understanding of political constraints. It was Rao who shielded Singh from the left wing of his own party, a flank that had left no stone unturned in opposing the economic liberalization programme. Rao made economic reforms politically tenable at a time when his own party was out to scuttle his most ambitious undertaking. How ironical, then, that today the same Congress-wallahs try to take credit for India’s economic success without acknowledging Rao’s role.”
– Harsh V Pant.

To supporters, Rao was the engineer of the economic reforms which transformed India from an almost-bankrupt State to one of the world’s largest economies. To critics, he was the leader who failed to provide social security during the Ayodhya riots. To historians, he was a man whose tenure as Prime Minister was highly eventful and important for modern India – one that should not be overlooked. It is, therefore, a sad thing that his name has been more or less disregarded in India’s history books, and his stature ignored in the annals of Indian politics.

Why did Steve Jobs always wear black turtlenecks & jeans?

During the early 1980s when Apple was still a young & dynamic startup company, Steve Jobs visited Japan to meet Sony’s chairman Akio Morita for business purpose. As typical it was with Steve, he made random visits to several departments of Sony to get a feel of their work culture and environment and was surprised to find that everyone in the company wore uniforms.

When Steve enquired about this with Morita, he was told that after World War II, most of the employees of Sony did not have any clothes to wear due to which Sony had to provide uniforms to all of them. Over time, the uniforms underwent changes in design & refinement, and although employees were able to afford better clothes for themselves, they still stuck on to the uniforms because it became a way of bonding all of them in the company.

That was when Steve made up his mind to implement something similar in Apple as well to nurture employees and create a bonding. He got in touch with the designer named Miyake who had designed uniforms for Sony and requested him to come up with sample designs of vests for Apple employees. When Steve returned to Apple Office with the samples and announced his intention of implementing uniforms, he was booed off the stage as it was hated by everybody in his company due to which he had to drop the idea.

But the idea had stuck to him and he wanted a uniform for himself, if not for his employees. He requested Miyake to design a uniform for daily usage which could convey his signature style of simplicity and in return he got hundreds of black turtlenecks which he started using as his 24/7 attire.

Just a few months before his death, Steve, during an interview with Walter Isaacson (his authorized biographer) showed his closet which was filled with hundreds of turtlenecks and had said “That’s what I wear. I have enough to last for the rest of my life.”

That’s how the turtleneck became Steve Jobs’ signature attire.