Ten years after his demise, former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao, who was disowned by Congress and denied a... Read More

NEW DELHI: 10 years after his demise, former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao finally has a memorial to his name in the national capital. The memorial got ready on Sunday--the birth anniversary of the ex-PM---who for long was neglected by his own Congress party.

The memorial ghat of Rao at Ekta Sthal, which is now integrated with Rashtriya Smriti, a common place for erecting memorials for former Presidents, PMs and others. The memorial is raised on a plinth in marble with a plaque bearing text highlighting briefly his contributions.

The plaque describes Rao: “Known as the scholar Prime Minister of India, Shri P V Narasimha Rao was born on 28th June, 1921 in Laknepalli Village, Warangal District in Telangana state. He rose to prominence as freedom fighter who fought the misrule of the Nizam during the formulative years of his political career. A reformer, educationist, scholar, conversant in 15 languages and known for his intellectual contribution, he was called the ‘Brihaspati’ (wiseman) of Andhra Pradesh”.

Soon after coming to power, the NDA government had proposed to build the memorial in Rao’s name. It was fast-tracked by Union urban development minister M Venkaiah Naidu, who had even visited the site. Naidu had asked engineers to complete the task quickly so it could come up as a tribute to the great leader.

The Modi government’s effort to commemorate Rao is being seen as an attempt to over-write the Nehru-Gandhi legacy of the Congress and to celebrate his reformist credentials.