NDa appropriates congress’ econoMic reforMer rao

The NDA government’s memorial for the late P.V. Narasimha Rao at Rajghat is being seen as an attempt to appropriate the political legacy of another Congress leader after Sardar Patel and Lal Bahadur Shastri. Rao, India’s tenth Prime Minister, who gave economic liberalisation to India, was marginalised by the Congress after his relationship with Sonia Gandhi soured in the 1990s. Rao was inducted as Prime Minister in 1991 after Sonia Gandhi refused to take up the position following her husband’s assassination the same year. By building a memorial for Rao, the government has brought him at par with Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, Congress’ two greatest icons. The BJP has also set its eyes on Lal Bahadur Shastri, another non Nehru-Gandhi Congress Prime Minister. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is frequently heard using Shastri’s famous slogan “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan” in his speeches.