KCR demands Bharat Ratna for former PM Narasimha Rao; plans to invite Clinton & ex-UK PM

Demanding Bharat Ratna Award for former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Tuesday said the state cabinet and legislature would pass resolutions for the same. He also said he would meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make the request formally.

This comes after Rao recently announced that his government would organise the centenary celebrations of Narasimha Rao on a grand scale. On Tuesday, the Telangana CM unveiled the plans for the celebrations.

PV Narasimha Rao served as the 9th Prime Minister of India from 1991 to 1996. He is known for bringing about a major economic transformation in the country. It was under his Prime Ministership that then Finance Minister Manmohan Singh liberalised India's economy in 1991 when the country was on the verge of bankruptcy after decades of License Raj and what had then derogatorily come to be known as the 'Hindu rate of growth'. It is alleged that his own party Congress hasn't been kind to him and has contributed to erasing his legacy.

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Demand for Bharat Ratna

He said: "PV was such a leader that the country should be proud of. He had changed the country's destiny for the better. PV is completely eligible to get the Bharat Ratna award, the highest civilian award, constituted by the Centre. The Cabinet and the legislature would pass resolutions demanding Bharat Ratna award to Narasimha Rao posthumously and they will be sent to the Centre, it said."

He also added: "I will personally meet Modi and request him to confer Bharat Ratna on PV. PV has a history by which every Telanganite can proudly say PV is Telangana's pride." Highlighting the economic reforms steered by Narasimha Rao, he also said that  President Ram Nath Kovind and PM Modi should attend the celebrations on his birth anniversary and suggested national level programmes 'to make people in the country understand his greatness.'

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Recalling that Narasimha Rao had a good relationship with former US President Bill Clinton and former British Prime Minister John Major and other world leaders, the Chief Minister suggested obtaining their opinions too and, if possible, making them participate in the celebrations. He also suggested putting up hoardings at key places in Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Bengaluru and 100 hoardings in Hyderabad to make the entire country realise the greatness of Narasimha Rao.

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State's preparation for PV's birth anniversary

Informing about the main programme on June 28, the birth anniversary of Narasimha Rao, the CM said that there will be a celebration at PV Gnana Bhoomi (the samadhi of the former Prime Minister) in Hyderabad, and 50 locations worldwide. 

The Chief Minister held a meeting with ministers, officials, Narasimha Rao centenary celebrations committee chairman and TRS MP K Keshav Rao and Narasimha Rao's son Prabhakar Rao and daughter Vani Devi. He directed that a PV Memorial Award be given to those who have made outstanding contributions in the fields of education, literature, politics and others. Among other directives, the Chief Minister also instructed that special programmes be organised once educational institutions in the state resume and students made to participate in them.

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