BJP pulls up Rahul Gandhi over 'forgetting' Narasimha Rao on 100th Birth Anniversary

On the 100th birth anniversary of former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao, people all over the country remembered him but there remained an eerie silence on the part of Congress' top brass, which did not go unnoticed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Taking to his official Twitter handle, BJP leader and Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy accused former Congress supremo Rahul Gandhi of being 'so busy' that he forgot to pay tribute to the leader who served the party lifelong. Pointing out that it was 'appalling' to see the party trample over his legacy, he added that the 'political untouchability' was unfortunate and distasteful. 

G Kishan Reddy earlier in the day shared a live video on his official Twitter handle in which he can be seen paying tribute to former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao. He wrote, "Paying Tributes to P.V. Narasimha Rao Garu, P.V. Narasimha Rao Marg, Hyderabad."

PM Modi remembers PV Narasimha Rao on his 100th birth anniversary

PM Modi also earlier in the day remembered the former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao. On his Twitter handle, he wrote, "Tributes to former PM Shri PV Narasimha Rao Ji on his 100th birth anniversary," while pointing out that India remembers his extensive contributions to national development. "He was blessed with remarkable knowledge and intellect," he added and shared with it, a video of the latest edition of Mann Ki Baat where he spoke about him. 

Political leaders remember former Prime Minister

PV Narasimha Rao 

Born on June 28, 1921, PV Narasimha Rao was a qualified lawyer who played an active role in the freedom struggle, and after independence, joined full-time politics as part of the Indian Nation Congress. When things started turning tumultuous in the party, he stood by Indira Gandhi as a trusted ally and helped her frame out the New Congress Party in 1969 by splitting the Indian National Congress. He had nearly retired from politics in 1991, but things did not go as planned and with Rajiv Gandhi's assassination, he had to come back to politics. He filled in for Rajiv Gandhi and served as the 10th Prime Minister of the country between 1991 and 1996. During his tenure as the Prime Minister, he oversaw a major economic transformation, which included reversing the socialist policies of Rajiv Gandhi and is therefore sometimes referred to as the 'Father of the Indian Economic Reforms'. 

It is widely believed, however, that despite playing a transformative role in the economic history of India, particularly the 1991 liberalisation, which ended the long-running 'Hindu rate of growth' and laid the foundations for the two decades of faster development India witnessed, that Narasimha Rao and his memory have been treated unfairly by the Congress party.

(Credit-PTI/KishanReddy-BJP/Twitter)