P.V. Narasimha Rao Biography

P.V. Narasimha Rao was the 12th Prime Minister of India, the first Prime Minister outside the Nehru-Gandhi family to serve office for five years. He is credited with resurrecting India’s economy. He entered the record books by winning the elections with a record majority of 5 lakh votes.

Pamulaparthi Venkata Narasimha Rao or P.V.Narasimha Rao was born on June 28, 1921, in a village named Vangara in the Karimnagar District of Andhra Pradesh. He did his Master’s degree in law. He could speak 13 languages, including Urdu, Marathi, Kannad, Hindi, Telugu and English fluently.

Before becoming the Prime Minister, he held offices in the cabinet and also as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. When there was a split in the Indian National Congress in 1969, he stayed with the Congress out of loyalty towards Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

In both the cabinets of Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, he managed many portfolios like Home, Defense and Foreign Affairs. With the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, he became the leader of the Congress party. When the Congress secured a majority of seats in the 1991 general elections he was asked to form the government.

During his tenure, he had many achievements but the one which revitalized India’s economy was the abolition of the License Raj in 1990. He introduced economic reforms like abolishing licensing regulations to attract FDI and private businesses.

During his tenure, Jammu and Kashmir were torn apart by terrorist activity. He introduced the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA).

PV Narasimha Rao remained in office as the Prime Minister from June 21, 1991, to May 16, 1996. He was succeeded by Atal Behari Vajpayee. He died of cardiac arrest on December 23, 2004.