P.V.NarasimhaRaoBiography

P.V.NarasimhaRaowasanIndianpoliticianwhoservedasthe10thPrimeMinisterof India.ThisbiographyofP.V.NarasimhaRao provides detailed information about his childhood, life,achievements,works&timeline.

QuickFacts

AlsoKnownAs

PamulapartiVenkataNarasimhaRao

Famousas PrimeMinisterofIndia

Nationality Indian

Religion Hinduism

Bornon 28June1921AD

ZodiacSign

Cancer

Bornin Karimnagar

Diedon 23December2004AD

Placeofdeath

NewDelhi

Spouse: Satyamma

EducationUniversityofMumbai,OsmaniaUniversity,FergussonCollege

ImageSource: http://www.livemint.com/P.V.NarasimhaRaowasanIndianpoliticianwhoservedasthe10th Prime Minister of India. Under his administration severalmajor economic reforms were implemented which led to thedismantlingof theLicenseRaj, openingup the Indianeconomyfor speedy economic development and growth. Because of thishe is often referred to as the "Father of Indian EconomicReforms". The dismantling of the License Raj was a majormilestone in the history of Indian economics as it reversed thesocialistpoliciesadoptedbythesuccessiveIndiangovernmentsafter the independence and paved the way for India to be anactive participant in the wave of globalization which wassweepingthroughtheworld.Withhisbrilliantadministrationandrelentlessactionsaimed towards thecountry’sdevelopment,herescued India from an economic collapse and set the pace forrecoveryandgrowth. In addition to his visionary leadership, heisalsofamousforbeingthefirstPrimeMinsterhailingfromnon-Hindi-speaking south India. He was a multi-faceted personalitywho was also a scholar and an intellectual; he spoke 17languages and had interests in varied subjects like computerprogrammingandliterature.

Childhood&Early LifeHe was born on 28 June 1921 in a village in WarangalDistrict, now inTelangana.Hewasadoptedat the ageofthree by P. Ranga Rao and Rukminiamma, who hailedfrom agrarian families. His full name was PamulapartiVenkataNarasimhaRao.

After completing his schooling he enrolled at the Artscollege at the Osmania University from where he earnedhis Bachelor ’s degree. He continued his studies at theHislop College where he completed aMaster ’s degree inlaw.

CareerFreedom struggle was at its peak during the 1940s, andRao, a passionate patriot trained to be a guerrilla fighterto revolt against the Nizam who ruled Hyderabad at thattime.

HefoughtagruelingwaragainsttheNizam,riskinghislifeashestrainedtoevadegettingkilledbytheNizam’sarmy.Even on 15 August 1947—the day India becameindependent—hewasfightinginaforest.

He survived the war and joined politics afterindependence. He served in the Andhra Pradeshlegislativeassemblyfrom1957to1977.HewasastaunchsupporterofIndiraGandhi.

From1962to1973heheldvariousministerialpositions inthe Andhra Pradesh government, serving as the ChiefMinisterofAndhraPradeshfrom1971–73.

Hewaselected toLokSabha (lowerhouseofparliament)in 1977. He handled diverse portfolios in the cabinets ofboth Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, including that offoreignminister(1980–84,1988–89).

Hewasplanning to leavepoliticsbut theassassinationofthe Congress President Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 made himrethinkhisdecision.TheCongressPartychoseRaoasitsleader and after the 1991 general elections, he becameIndia’sPrimeMinister.

Indian economywas going through a crisis when he tookover the reigns as thePrimeMinister and he immediatelyset about implementing progressive reforms. He aimed atreducingthefiscaldeficit,privatizationofthepublicsectorandincreasinginvestmentininfrastructure.

RaochoseManmohanSingh,anacclaimedeconomist, ashis FinanceMinister,who helped him in implementing thereforms. The SEBI Act of 1992 and the Security Laws(Amendment)wereintroducedunderhisadministration.

Some of Rao’s reforms included opening India’s equitymarkets to investment by foreign institutional investorsand starting theNational StockExchange as a computer-basedtradingsystemin1994.

As a Prime Minister, Rao made significant achievementsand set the pace for the country’s speedy development.He energized the national nuclear security and ballisticmissiles program, made diplomatic overtures to WesternEurope, the United States, and China, and neutralizedKashmirseparatistmovement.

But his tenure was also marked by the allegations ofcorruption.Hewaschargedwithcorruptionandbribery inan alleged vote-buying scam dating back to 1993 whenRao’sgovernmentwasfacingano-confidencemotion

In the 1996 general elections the Congress Party wasvoted out by the Indian electorate and he stepped downasprimeministerinMay1996

In 2000, a lower court found Rao guilty of bribing theJharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) MPs to save hisgovernment in 1993, and sentenced him to three years inprison.Raogot thebailandappealed toDelhiHighCourtagainst the verdict. In 2002, Delhi High Court acquittedhimofthecharge.

MajorWorksHe is best remembered for bringing about economicreformsinthecountrywhileservingasthePrimeMinister.Working along with the Finance Minster, ManmohanSingh, he introduced several measures including cuttinggovernment regulations and red tape, abandoningsubsidies and fixed prices, and privatizing state-runindustries, which ultimately revitalized the economy ofIndia.

PersonalLife &LegacyHewasmarried toSatyammaand had eight childrenwithher—threesonsandfivedaughters.Hiswifediedin1970,leavinghimadistraughtwidowerfortherestofhislife.

He was a scholar who spoke 17 languages and had aprofound interest in literature. He was a prolific readerand wrote fiction in Telugu, Marathi, and Hindi. He hadalso once served as the chairmanof theTeluguAcademyinAndhraPradesh(1968–74)

He suffereda heart attack on9December 2004anddied14dayslateron23December2004,attheageof83.