Unsung PM

No road, not even a lane, has been named after Narasimha Rao in Delhi, Natwar Singh pointed out at the launch of Vinay Sitapati’s biography of the late prime minister, Half Lion, this week. Singh felt a campaign should be mounted to redress this injustice to a man who was responsible for the spectacular revival of the country’s economy and who radically altered the government’s approach to economic planning. Singh acknowledged that he was no great admirer of Rao during the latter’s lifetime. He also conceded that Rao failed as a chief minister, didn’t have a clue as external affairs minister and although he spoke nine languages, couldn’t take a decision in any of them. He, however, tur ned out to be a great PM, Singh said.

Mani Shankar Aiyar, the only Congressperson present at the gathering, derided Rao’s achievements and claimed that after the Babri Masjid demolition, the for mer PM lamely explained to the party that he had followed the tradition of ancient kings by taking the advice of sants and sages on the Ayodhya issue.

Godman and conman Chandraswamy, once closely linked to Rao and also a friend of Natwar Singh, was missing, though he had been invited. In the audience was Naresh Chandra, Rao’s former cabinet secretary and close adviser. He was cheered when Singh remarked that though unsung, Chandra had played a key role in shaping India’s nuclear policy.

Following the Chinese veto on India joining the elite Nuclear Suppliers Group in Seoul, President Pranab Mukherjee summoned foreign secretary S Jaishankar for a meeting. Mukherjee wanted to be briefed on the reasons for India’s failure to bring China around. He had earlier raised the issue of Chinese support for India’s NSG ambitions in talks with President Xi Jingping during his visit to that country in May