P. V. Narasimha Rao

P. V. Narasimha Rao
Rao in 1992
9th Prime Minister of India
In office 21 June 1991 – 16 May 1996
President	R. Venkataraman Shankar Dayal Sharma
Preceded by	Chandra Shekhar
Succeeded by	Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Minister of Defence
In office 6 March 1993 – 16 May 1996
Prime Minister	Himself
Preceded by	Shankarrao Chavan
Succeeded by	Pramod Mahajan
In office 31 December 1984 – 25 September 1985
Prime Minister	Rajiv Gandhi
Preceded by	Rajiv Gandhi
Succeeded by	Shankarrao Chavan
11th Union Minister of External Affairs
In office 31 March 1992 – 18 January 1994
Prime Minister	Himself
Preceded by	Madhavsinh Solanki
Succeeded by	Dinesh Singh
In office 25 June 1988 – 2 December 1989
Prime Minister	Rajiv Gandhi
Preceded by	Rajiv Gandhi
Succeeded by	V. P. Singh
In office 14 January 1980 – 19 July 1984
Prime Minister	Indira Gandhi
Preceded by	Shyam Nandan Prasad Mishra
Succeeded by	Indira Gandhi
18th Union Minister of Home Affairs
In office 12 March 1986 – 12 May 1986
Prime Minister	Rajiv Gandhi
Preceded by	Shankarrao Chavan
Succeeded by	Sardar Buta Singh
In office 19 July 1984 – 31 December 1984
Prime Minister	Indira Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi
Preceded by	Prakash Chandra Sethi
Succeeded by	Shankarrao Chavan
4th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh
In office 30 September 1971 – 10 January 1973
Governor	Khandubhai Kasanji Desai
Preceded by	Kasu Brahmananda Reddy
Succeeded by	President's rule
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office 15 May 1996 – 4 December 1997
Preceded by	Gopinath Gajapati
Succeeded by	Jayanti Patnaik
Constituency	Brahmapur
In office 20 June 1991 – 10 May 1996
Preceded by	Gangula Prathapa Reddy
Succeeded by	Bhuma Nagi Reddy
Constituency	Nandyal
In office 31 December 1984 – 13 March 1991
Preceded by	Barve Jatiram Chitaram
Succeeded by	Tejsinghrao Bhosle
Constituency	Ramtek
In office 23 March 1977 – 31 December 1984
Preceded by	Constituency established
Succeeded by	Chendupatla Janga Reddy
Constituency	Hanamkonda
Member of Legislative Assembly, Andhra Pradesh
In office 1957–1977
Preceded by	Gulukota Sriramulu
Succeeded by	Chandrupatla Narayana Reddy
Constituency	Manthani
Personal details
Born	(1921-06-28)28 June 1921 Laknepalli, Hyderabad State, British India (present-day Telangana, India)
Died	23 December 2004(2004-12-23) (aged 83) New Delhi, Delhi, India
Monuments	Gyan Bhumi
Political party	Indian National Congress
Spouse	Satyamma ​ ​ (m. 1931; died 1970)​
Children	8, including P. V. Rajeshwar and Surabhi Vani Devi
Alma mater	Osmania University (BA) University of Mumbai Nagpur University (LL.M.)
Occupation	Lawyer politician writer
Awards	Bharat Ratna (2024)

Pamulaparthi Venkata Narasimha Rao (28 June 1921 – 23 December 2004), popularly known as P. V. Narasimha Rao, was an Indian lawyer, statesman and politician who served as the 9th prime minister of India from 1991 to 1996. He was the first person from South India and second person from non-Hindi speaking background to be the prime minister. He is especially known for introducing various liberal reforms to India's economy by recruiting Manmohan Singh as the finance minister to rescue the state from going towards bankruptcy during the economic crisis of 1991.^[1][2][3] Future prime ministers, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh, continued the economic reform policies pioneered by Rao's government.^[4][5] Rao was also referred to as Chanakya for his ability to steer economic and political legislation through the parliament at a time when he headed a minority government.^[6][7][8]

Prior to his premiership, he served as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, and later also held high order portfolios of the union government, such as Defence, Home Affairs and External Affairs. In 1991 Indian general election, the Indian National Congress led by him won 244 seats and thereafter he along with external support from other parties formed a minority government with him being the prime minister.

He remains a controversial figure in his party due to his role during and after the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992 and also for having a bitter relation with the Nehru–Gandhi family.^[9][10][11] Although he was criticised during his tenure and even sidelined later by his own party,^[12] retrospective evaluations have been kinder, even positioning him as one of the best prime ministers of India in various polls and analyses.^{[13][14][15][16][17][18]} His achievements include steering India through the 1991 economic crisis, completing a tenure with a minority government, establishing diplomatic relations with Israel, starting India's Look East policy, rekindling India's nuclear programme, defeating the 1994 United Nations resolution against India,^[19] effectively handling and crushing insurgency in Punjab, tough policy against terrorism in Kashmir,^[20] and opening partial diplomatic relations with Taiwan.^[21] In 2024, he was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award by the Indian government.^[22]