Focus on PV Narasimha Rao as PM and Congressman
Bharat Ratna on the late Congress stalwart and former PM PV Narasimha Rao has brought the spotlight back on a leader whose stint was also known for frosty relations with the Sonia Gandhi-led Congress establishment, among others. Rao was virtually shunned by Congress and was treated as a 'political untouchable' after his government was voted out in 1996. Clearly, the award from the Narendra Modi government to a Congress leader is not just a recognition for the former PM who left his mark in various fields but it is also meant to rub the Gandhis and their loyalists in Congress the wrong way.
Even during his PM stint, Rao and Sonia were known to have shared a tense relationship. Sonia's one-time advisor Natwar Singh has recorded a few details in his autobiography. Even the 10 Janpath loyalists, who used to spread versions of how PM Rao used to go out of his way to show respect and loyalty to her, later started complaining how he deftly reduced Gandhi to a «golden bird in a golden cage» during his tenure.
While Rao government gave Bharat Ratna to Rajiv Gandhi posthumously in 1991, Rao made it a point to confer the same on the long-overlooked Sardar Patel.
Sonia limited her reaction to a «I welcome it» remark when TV cameras surrounded her in Parliament. Rahul Gandhi has not reacted till the time of writing. Party chief Mallikarjun Kharge has spared four sentences on X to praise Rao's feats. Till late Friday evening it remained a suspense how Manmohan Singh would choose to respond.
PM Rao would be cherished for
