P.

V. Narasimha Rao Biography

P. V. Narasimha Rao was an Indian politician who served as the
10th Prime Minister of India. This biography of P. V. Narasimha
Rao provides detailed information about his childhood, life,
achievements, works & timeline.
Quick Facts
Also Known
Pamulaparti Venkata Narasimha Rao
As
Famous as

Prime Minister of India

Nationality

Indian

Religion

Hinduism

Born on

28 June 1921 AD

Zodiac
Sign

Cancer

Born in

Karimnagar

Died on

23 December 2004 AD

Place of
death

New Delhi

Spouse:

Satyamma

Education

University of Mumbai, Osmania University,

Fergusson College

Im age Source : http://www.livemint.com/

P. V. Narasimha Rao was an Indian politician who served as the
10th Prime Minister of India. Under his administration several
major economic reforms were implemented which led to the
dismantling of the License Raj, opening up the Indian economy
for speedy economic development and growth. Because of this
he is often referred to as the "Father of Indian Economic
Reforms". The dismantling of the License Raj was a major
milestone in the history of Indian economics as it reversed the
socialist policies adopted by the successive Indian governments
after the independence and paved the way for India to be an
active participant in the wave of globalization which was
sweeping through the world. With his brilliant administration and
relentless actions aimed towards the countrys development, he
rescued India from an economic collapse and set the pace for
recovery and growth. In addition to his visionary leadership, he
is also famous for being the first Prime Minster hailing from nonHindi-speaking south India. He was a multi-faceted personality
who was also a scholar and an intellectual; he spoke 17
languages and had interests in varied subjects like computer
programming and literature.
Childhood & Early Life
He was born on 28 June 1921 in a village in Warangal
District, now in Telangana. He was adopted at the age of
three by P. Ranga Rao and Rukminiamma, who hailed
from agrarian families. His full name was Pamulaparti
Venkata Narasimha Rao.

After completing his schooling he enrolled at the Arts

college at the Osmania University from where he earned
his Bachelor s degree. He continued his studies at the
Hislop College where he completed a Master s degree in
law.
Care e r
Freedom struggle was at its peak during the 1940s, and
Rao, a passionate patriot trained to be a guerrilla fighter
to revolt against the Nizam who ruled Hyderabad at that
time.
He fought a grueling war against the Nizam, risking his life
as he strained to evade getting killed by the Nizams army.
Even on 15 August 1947the day India became
independenthe was fighting in a forest.
He

survived

the

war

and

joined

politics

after

independence. He served in the Andhra Pradesh

legislative assembly from 1957 to 1977. He was a staunch
supporter of Indira Gandhi.
From 1962 to 1973 he held various ministerial positions in
the Andhra Pradesh government, serving as the Chief
Minister of Andhra Pradesh from 197173.
He was elected to Lok Sabha (lower house of parliament)
in 1977. He handled diverse portfolios in the cabinets of
both Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, including that of
foreign minister (198084, 198889).
He was planning to leave politics but the assassination of
the Congress President Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 made him
rethink his decision. T he Congress Party chose Rao as its
leader and after the 1991 general elections, he became
Indias Prime Minister.
Indian economy was going through a crisis when he took
over the reigns as the Prime Minister and he immediately
set about implementing progressive reforms. He aimed at
reducing the fiscal deficit, privatization of the public sector
and increasing investment in infrastructure.

Rao chose Manmohan Singh, an acclaimed economist, as

his Finance Minister, who helped him in implementing the
reforms. T he SEBI Act of 1992 and the Security Laws
(Amendment) were introduced under his administration.
Some of Raos reforms included opening Indias equity
markets to investment by foreign institutional investors
and starting the National Stock Exchange as a computerbased trading system in 1994.
As a Prime Minister, Rao made significant achievements
and set the pace for the countrys speedy development.
He energized the national nuclear security and ballistic
missiles program, made diplomatic overtures to Western
Europe, the United States, and China, and neutralized
Kashmir separatist movement.
But his tenure was also marked by the allegations of
corruption. He was charged with corruption and bribery in
an alleged vote-buying scam dating back to 1993 when
Raos government was facing a no-confidence motion
In the 1996 general elections the Congress Party was
voted out by the Indian electorate and he stepped down
as prime minister in May 1996
In 2000, a lower court found Rao guilty of bribing the
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) MPs to save his
government in 1993, and sentenced him to three years in
prison. Rao got the bail and appealed to Delhi High Court
against the verdict. In 2002, Delhi High Court acquitted
him of the charge.
Major Works
He is best remembered for bringing about economic
reforms in the country while serving as the Prime Minister.
Working along with the Finance Minster, Manmohan
Singh, he introduced several measures including cutting
government regulations and red tape, abandoning
subsidies and fixed prices, and privatizing state-run
industries, which ultimately revitalized the economy of
India.

Pe rsonal Life & Le gacy

He was married to Satyamma and had eight children with
herthree sons and five daughters. His wife died in 1970,
leaving him a distraught widower for the rest of his life.
He was a scholar who spoke 17 languages and had a
profound interest in literature. He was a prolific reader
and wrote fiction in Telugu, Marathi, and Hindi. He had
also once served as the chairman of the Telugu Academy
in Andhra Pradesh (196874)
He suffered a heart attack on 9 December 2004 and died
14 days later on 23 December 2004, at the age of 83.