28th June is not an important date in the Indian
Political Landscape. But it is a date that new so-called
aspirational India should keep a note of. It is the birth anniversary of
India’s 9th Prime Minister P V Narasimharao. The Millennial or
Generation Z population in India, who have benefitted from the deeds of this
particular politician in the Indian Landscape may or may not be aware of the
significance of few actions that were taken by the prime minister who inherited
empty coffers and braved all the political brunt of something as unthinkable
that time as the opening of economy to foreign investment.
Many would attribute credit to then FM Dr. Manmohan Singh. But
though as economist Dr. Singh would have suggested the norms or policies, it
was another thing to run a coalition government always under threat of
political instability to have pushed these economic measures. The politics of
India from 1989 till as late as 2014 was marked by coalition governments.
Barring the infrastructure focus of the Vajpayee regime during 99-04, the years
always had political compulsions which resulted in political majority abused
for wrong policies or policy paralysis. Thus the period of 91-96
when PV Narasimharao ruled was the base of India Story.
As a kid, I grew in the small window of economic growth in the
mid-80s. The reforms came in and allowed opportunities for middle and
lower-middle-class kids like me to look forward to global careers,
opportunities which earlier were very scarce. I remember getting jobs in banks,
factories, the public sector was so difficult. Entrepreneurship was something
out of the syllabus for any middle-class constituent. Money really trickled
down due to liberalization. We now can think of eating out, spending large sums
on an outing, shopping, traveling every week. Earlier which I mean as late as
mid 80s was an annual event. Our kids dream of international careers, jobs that
can post you globally, jobs in MNC and brands. The Investment has trickled into
booming construction, (un) real estate, transportation, agriculture, logistics,
banking, and so on. Tier two city children compete with metro kids thanks to
communication and technology. Though we have severe gaps in basic infrastructure,
urban planning, education, and healthcare, we had driven our population under
poverty to the middle-income category which is reflected in GDP with purchasing
power parity. Thus it is very important for current incumbents to focus on many
concrete reforms to revive the Indian story after corrections of GST and
setback due to economic impact of a pandemic arising out of virus originating
from Wuhan.
Younger generations may know his role in guiding the economy
through reforms but they may not know his key role in many things that can be
termed as political suicide in earlier politics. He guided a minority
government through policies and steps which ensured free elections in Punjab
and got a democratically elected government which led to the resolution of the
crisis. He initiated India’s look east policy and facilitated the entry of
India into ASEAN. Under his regime, India started diplomatic ties with Israel
and Taiwan (partially). Dr. Kalam admits his role in rekindling India’s nuclear
program Though it was the Vajpayee government that actually did the Pokharan
II, Narasimharao shared many briefings to Vajpayee Govt. He kind of cleaned up
the mess created in Kashmir by VP Singh government with a tough stance against
militancy. In 1994, when the UN was voting against India for Human
Rights Violation in Kashmir, some nimble diplomatic steps taken in Iran, Our
Government led by Narasimharao saved the day for India’s Position in Kashmir.
As a person, Narasimharao was soft-spoken. He was educated,
multilingual, and even equipped himself with IT skills then like many
professionals. I would say he was the first prime minister of India who
mastered Sanskrit. He was the first prime minister from the non-Hindi speaking
belt and peninsular India. His ascent to Prime Minister Post was a boost to the
national integration of India. I still remember his speech in Marathi during
the inaugural world Marathi meet. What he said that languages cannot remain
sacrosanct with technical correctness they have to evolve and include. He
was the one who created the identity of leaders within Congress who had their
own standing outside the dynastic successors. Though because of that, he stood
the brunt of the neglect during his last days. One event in Dec 92
and allegations done by the mastermind of the stock market scam maligned his
reputation. Also, his political maneuverings during parliamentary votes were
questioned. But for me, it was a (non) action of a statesman. He had
a unique style of doing things correctly yet making them appear as things
taking their own shape out of his non-action. That’s why maybe he did not get
credit for many stellar and difficult things that any Prime Minister of India
has ever done.
As a representative of Gen X which saw liberalization unfurl, I
feel very thankful to PV Narasimharao. Our Gen-X rode on the waves of free
economy and easily acclimatized ourselves from deprivation to consumption. We
have seen boons and banes of new tech coming in. We got accustomed to global
brands and got recognized worldwide. We became a part of the world and the
world saw there was more to India than snake charmers and elephants. We have a
long way to go but our young economy and numbers definitely matter for the
world. Eventually, globalization would have caught up but maybe our generation
X or millennials would have missed out. And our infrastructure would really
have made it difficult for the population we have today. Sometimes I wonder if
we would have seen new lows thanks to our stagnant economy and limited
investment. Thankfully there was one man at the guard during those delicate
years and after the lowest level of politics seen in India. But then his
contribution still remains unsung and 28th June doesn’t get any
recall in our collective memories.
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