Beginning with Narasimha Rao, the Modi regime must correct many of the injustices of the past, especially those pertaining to the marginalisation of some of the country's real heroes, leaders
The Narendra Modi Government’s decision to follow-up on the resolution passed by the Telangana State Assembly, that a fitting memorial should be erected for former Prime Minister, PV Narasimha Rao, will be widely welcomed by all those who believe that the nation must acknowledge the contribution of the real leaders and builders of modern India.
The contribution of Rao, the man who pulled India’s economy out of the rut a quarter century ago, and laid the foundations for the country’s spectacular economic growth, has never been acknowledged by previous Governments, including those headed by his own party, the Congress. Apart from being the chief architect of economic reforms, Rao’s sagacious leadership in the 1991-96 phase also helped stamp out the secessionist forces in Punjab and save the country’s unity and integrity.
Yet, despite those extraordinary achievements, the Congress, probably giving in to the insecurities of its own leaders, sought to effectively stamp out Rao from the national consciousness.
Rao came on the scene when all seemed lost and the nation was adrift on choppy seas. India’s foreign exchange reserves had crashed to perilous levels and the nation was on the brink of default. It had dollars just enough to pay for petroleum imports for two weeks. The rate of inflation was 13 per cent, which soon climbed to 17 per cent. Industrial growth had come to a grinding halt and the Eighth Five-Year Plan had been abandoned. The economic crisis was so huge that Rao’s predecessor had mortgaged gold to the Bank of England to raise a measly $200 million.
This was the time when doomsayers were having a field day because, apart from this gargantuan economic crisis, Rao had inherited the Punjab problem, where centrifugal forces were pulling the State away from India’s orbit and there were innumerable other flashpoints, including the smouldering communal crisis and the post-Mandal casteist fires stoked by another predecessor, VP Singh. Rao was called upon to cope with all this, with his hands tied behind his back — he did not have the numbers in the lok Sabha. The Congress had secured just 232 seats and was 41 short of a majority in the 1991 lok Sabha poll.
Given this reality, only a cerebral and decisive Prime Minister could have ensured the country’s political and geographic unity and economic recovery — both of which he achieved in a matter of five years. Rao picked up persons of calibre and gave them a free hand to craft policies that would result in a turnaround. He chose Manmohan Singh as his Finance Minister, shielded him from the fiercest political attacks in and out of Parliament, and asked him to re-work the economic policy. The two together opened up the economy to domestic and foreign investors and dumped Nehruvian socialist policies which had all but killed the entrepreneurial skills of Indians.
These policies, which were pursued with greater vengeance by Jawaharlal Nehru’s daughter, Indira Gandhi, had reduced industrialists to a bunch of licence and permit grabbers who were called upon to master the art of bribing their way through the corridors of power. Such was the stranglehold of the state over the economy that the Government had a virtual monopoly in the manufacturing sector — from condoms to telephone instruments. Also, much of the services were in Government hands, be it telecommunications or airlines, thus pulling the economy down through their inefficiencies.
The Rao Government’s first Budget of 1991 was a watershed as it began the process of dismantling the rusted Nehruvian framework, brick by brick. By the time his term ended, the grand revival of Indian business and industry had begun and hope was once again in the air. The long-term impact of his policies can be gauged from the fact that the country’s foreign exchange reserves, which had dried up when he took charge, had climbed to $140 billion when he passed away in December 2004. A fortnight ago, it stood at a robust $345 billion.
Rao displayed similar grit in tackling the other big monster at India’s door in the 1990s — secessionism in Punjab. The seeds of separatism were sown during Indira Gandhi’s prime ministership and the plant flowered during Rajiv Gandhi’s tenure. The State was virtually slipping away because the previous Governments had failed miserably to quell the forces that were out to wreck India’s unity. Rao gave then Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh and police chief KPS Gill a free hand to tackle the problem. This brought in dividends. But for Rao’s shrewdness, Punjab could have become the first State to secede from India.
Following his demise, the media was full of reports of how the United Progressive Alliance Government headed by Manmohan Singh did not want Rao’s last rites to be performed in Delhi. It was also widely reported that the Congress leadership prevented his body from being taken to the premises of the All India Congress Committee on Akbar Road. Rao was eventually cremated in Hyderabad.
The Narendra Modi Government has, therefore, its task cut out. Beginning with Rao, it must correct many of the injustices of the past, especially those pertaining to the marginalisation of some of the nation’s real heroes and leaders, irrespective of which party they belonged to.
For starters, the Government must allocate land on Rajpath for both Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. We have the Jawaharlal Nehru Bhavan, housing the Ministry of External Affairs on one side of Rajpath. On the other is the Indira Gandhi Centre for the Arts. A 100 metres away in this key area is the Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan. But what about Sardar Patel, the iron man, without whom we would never have had the India that he stitched together with grit, determination and extraordinary foresightIJ And what about Netaji Bose, the man who raised an army to oust the British and showed extraordinary courage and commitment to free India from foreign ruleIJ
A grateful nation must at least now grant them their rightful place in the history books and on the nation’s most prominent promenade. Anything short of such tributes will smack of ungratefulness. This is one of the many responsibilities that the Narendra Modi Government has to shoulder, but it is an important one because it will correct some of the injustices of the past and also rejuvenate our national consciousness.