A Homage to P.V. Narasimha Rao
Narasimha Rao is by far the most consequential Prime Minister India has had. Facing one of the darkest economic periods in post-independent India, he rose to the challenge and launched the economic reforms and started the liberalization process. Looking at his prior career, no one would have guessed that this man was capable of such bold vision. But when the time came, he served India well.
I remember how dark it felt at that time in 1991. India reached the lowest ebb, the economy drifting aimlessly, with frustration building up everywhere. Rajiv Gandhi’s assasination completed the misery. He was called back from retirement and asked to assume the Prime-Ministership most likely because other more ambitious and politically savvy people stayed away from that crown of thorns. It was widely thought he would just be a seat warmer, taking the blame for the bad times. So it is even more creditable that he set India on a wholly different course, a course it follows to this day.
There were also all those scandals and corruption charges (he was acquitted but they did leave a stain on him), but I would like to remember the man for the positive things he did.