Congress-TRS clash to claim PV Narasimha Rao’s political legacy

Naveen S Garewal

Advertisement

Tribune News Service

Hyderabad, July 25

After the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) party’s announcement to hold a year-long celebration till June 2021 to celebrate the 100th birth anniversary of PV Narasimha Rao, the Congress on Saturday followed suite to acknowledge his contribution towards nation building as Prime Minister from June 1991 to May 1996.

Reading out a message from Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Telangana Congress chief Uttam Kumar Reddy described him as a “great son” of India.

The TRS started the centenary celebrations of Rao with a public function hosted by Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR) where he called the former Prime Minister son of Telangana (erstwhile Andhra Pradesh) and criticised the Congress for ignoring his contribution in every sphere of life.

Reddy while reading out a message from Sonia Gandhi said that the former Prime Minister was a dedicated Congress leader and the Congress takes pride in his accomplishments and contribution.

“PV Narasimha Rao’s tenure was also marked by several political, social, and foreign policy achievements. Above all he was a dedicated Congressman who served the party devotedly in various capacities,” Sonia said in her message.

Reddy went on to read Sonia’s message saying, “PV Narasimha Rao was a much respected national and international figure. The Congress party takes pride in his many accomplishments and contributions. The birth centenary of Rao is an occasion to recall and pay tribute to a most scholarly and erudite personality who after a long career in state and national politics (became) the Prime Minister of the country at a time of grave economic crisis.”

The message noted that the Union Budget of July 24, 1991, paved the way for the economic transformation of India.

Rao, noted Sonia in her message, was the second Prime Minister in this country to introduce radical reforms in the Indian economy to unleash the potentiality of growth.

The message from the Congress president has started a war of words between the TRS and the Congress leadership with the former alleging that the Congress did not even remember the great leader from Telangana till KCR decided to hold various events in his memory.

Born in Laknepalli village of Narsampet Mandal in Warangal district, now in Telangana, Rao was trained as a lawyer but switched to politics and rose to become the ninth Prime Minister of India and the first from south India and the second holder of the office from a non-Hindi-speaking region.

During his tenure, he brought major reforms in the economy, abolished license Raj and improved national security. He is often referred to as the “Father of Indian Economic Reforms”.