P. V. Narasimha Rao (28 June 1921 – 23 December 2004) was an Indian lawyer, scholar and politician who served as the ninth Prime Minister of India from 1991 to 1996. He was the first Prime Minister from South India and the first from outside the Nehru–Gandhi family to complete a full five-year term. With Manmohan Singh as his Finance Minister, he dismantled much of the “licence raj” and opened India’s economy to the world. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna posthumously in 2024.
Quick Facts
| Full name | Pamulaparthi Venkata Narasimha Rao |
| Born | 28 June 1921, Laknepalli, Hyderabad State (now Telangana), India |
| Died | 23 December 2004, New Delhi (aged 83) |
| Office | 9th Prime Minister of India (21 June 1991 – 16 May 1996) |
| Party | Indian National Congress |
| Earlier offices | Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh (1971–1973); Union Minister for External Affairs, Home, Defence and Human Resource Development |
| Education | Osmania University; Fergusson College, Pune; Hislop College, Nagpur (LL.B.) |
| Honour | Bharat Ratna (2024, posthumous) |
Early Life
Rao was born in a Telugu Brahmin farming family and was adopted as a child by a relative in Vangara village, in what is now Hanamkonda district. As a student he took part in the Vande Mataram movement against the Nizam’s rule and was expelled from Osmania University, completing his studies in Pune and Nagpur. He was a gifted linguist who knew more than a dozen languages, including Telugu, Hindi, Marathi, Urdu, Sanskrit, English, Spanish and French.
Political Career
Rao was a member of the Andhra Pradesh assembly from 1957 to 1977 and Chief Minister from 1971 to 1973, when he pushed land reforms. Loyal to Indira Gandhi, he moved to national politics and held the External Affairs, Home, Defence and Human Resource Development portfolios under her and Rajiv Gandhi.
Rao was preparing to retire when Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in May 1991. The Congress chose him as leader, and he formed a minority government in June. India was close to defaulting on its foreign debt. Rao appointed the economist Manmohan Singh as Finance Minister and backed him as the government devalued the rupee, abolished most industrial licensing, cut import duties and welcomed foreign investment. His government also launched the “Look East” policy towards Southeast Asia, established diplomatic relations with Israel in 1992 and ended the insurgency in Punjab.
On 6 December 1992 a crowd demolished the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, setting off riots across India. Rao was widely criticised for failing to prevent it.
Later Life
The Congress lost the 1996 election, and Rao faced several corruption cases; he was eventually cleared in all of them. He wrote a semi-autobiographical novel, The Insider (1998). He died of a heart attack in New Delhi on 23 December 2004 and was cremated in Hyderabad.
Legacy
Frequently Asked Questions
When and where was P. V. Narasimha Rao born?
P. V. Narasimha Rao was born on 28 June 1921 in Laknepalli, Hyderabad State (now Telangana), India.
When did P. V. Narasimha Rao die?
Died: 23 December 2004, New Delhi (aged 83).
Featured image: Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao (left) greets guests at Bangabhaban, Dhaka, during a visit to Bangladesh, 1994. Photo by Md. Lutfar Rahman Binu, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
