1991!
It was a watershed year in the history of India, as well as of the world. Chaos prevailed both inside and outside India. At the beginning of the year, the country on her West, Iraq, was brought to its knees by America and its allies, on a six-month long war to free Kuwait. This brought a deep strain on the pockets by raising the price of oil. On her East, USSR, one of her own long-term allies, was teetering on a period of political uncertainty. And, this caused a lot of trouble to the exports, which mainly depended on USSR. The situation at home was not much heartwarming either. Two prime-ministers came and went in what can reasonably termed ‘quick succession’. There was no political certainty in the country.
What was even more alarming was the balance-of-payments crisis, with India having the foreign exchange reserves that could afford for only two-week’s worth of imports. Even if India had decided to curb all the other imports and spend the scarce reserves only on crucial commodities of food and oil, this situation would only have worsened. With the credit rating of the country suffering a serious blow, raising credit in the global markets was becoming next to impossible. There was the ignominy of having pledged gold with the banks of Europe and Japan to raise foreign-exchange. IMF was acting like a big brother advising India to mend her ways and show some financial prudence.
There were two options ahead of India – either to become a defaulter, lose credibility and creditworthiness for a long, long time to come OR to implement some tough but timely measures to steady the ship. In a populous country like India, implementing any idea or policy that is going to usher in changes, especially some bitter ones, was never going to be easy. But the cat HAD to be belled.
The unfortunate assassination of Rajiv Gandhi won for Congress a mandate that was barely enough to claim the right to rule the country for the next five years. Amidst all that uncertainty arose an unlikely hero – P.V.Narasimha Rao. This diminutive persona proved himself worthy by overcoming all those challenges. Apart from recruiting Dr.Manmohan Singh, who went on to become the Prime Minister himself, and giving him a free hand to implement the necessary changes in the country’s fiscal policy, Rao did also open up the Indian industry by doing away with all the cobwebs of ‘License Raj’. Also, at a time when the Congressmen were en masse falling at the feet of Nehru’s descendants, Rao gave hope by proving that in the ranks of Congress were capable leaders that could still hold their own when it came to leading the country.
But, there are quite some ironies in the tale of this memorable Prime Minister. Though a polyglot, who could converse in nearly two dozen languages, he was known more for his silence than for his eloquence. A man that was secular and sensible, it was under his regime that the shameful demolition of Babri Masjid took place, though he had played a vital role during the struggles against the Hyderabad Nizam in the 1940s. Though he had achieved many things in the five years with his minority government, the credit for many of his good initiatives went to his successors. Whether he deserves a Bharat Ratna or not is a topic worthy of debate and decision.
About the book, well, Sanjaya Baru has done an amazing work with his research and writing. Many of the books that I have read about History and Economy have all sounded so dry and dull. But this book feels more like a political thriller than like a work of non-fiction. The fluent style of Sanjaya Baru, reinforced by his impartial assessment of the prevailing scenario of that time, makes for interesting reading, though occasionally one gets the feeling that he tries to depict Narasimha Rao as a man without any faults. Baru makes up for it by not pulling any punches when it comes to criticizing the dynastic behavior of the current descendants of the Nehru clan.
This is a book that extensively recounts the economic and political changes in India during 1991. Changes that turned the tide in India’s favor and placed her on the path of economic progress. Changes that were brought about by an unsung hero that went from being respected to reviled in a life full of ironies.
It was a watershed year in the history of India, as well as of the world. Chaos prevailed both inside and outside India. At the beginning of the year, the country on her West, Iraq, was brought to its knees by America and its allies, on a six-month long war to free Kuwait. This brought a deep strain on the pockets by raising the price of oil. On her East, USSR, one of her own long-term allies, was teetering on a period of political uncertainty. And, this caused a lot of trouble to the exports, which mainly depended on USSR. The situation at home was not much heartwarming either. Two prime-ministers came and went in what can reasonably termed ‘quick succession’. There was no political certainty in the country.
What was even more alarming was the balance-of-payments crisis, with India having the foreign exchange reserves that could afford for only two-week’s worth of imports. Even if India had decided to curb all the other imports and spend the scarce reserves only on crucial commodities of food and oil, this situation would only have worsened. With the credit rating of the country suffering a serious blow, raising credit in the global markets was becoming next to impossible. There was the ignominy of having pledged gold with the banks of Europe and Japan to raise foreign-exchange. IMF was acting like a big brother advising India to mend her ways and show some financial prudence.
There were two options ahead of India – either to become a defaulter, lose credibility and creditworthiness for a long, long time to come OR to implement some tough but timely measures to steady the ship. In a populous country like India, implementing any idea or policy that is going to usher in changes, especially some bitter ones, was never going to be easy. But the cat HAD to be belled.
The unfortunate assassination of Rajiv Gandhi won for Congress a mandate that was barely enough to claim the right to rule the country for the next five years. Amidst all that uncertainty arose an unlikely hero – P.V.Narasimha Rao. This diminutive persona proved himself worthy by overcoming all those challenges. Apart from recruiting Dr.Manmohan Singh, who went on to become the Prime Minister himself, and giving him a free hand to implement the necessary changes in the country’s fiscal policy, Rao did also open up the Indian industry by doing away with all the cobwebs of ‘License Raj’. Also, at a time when the Congressmen were en masse falling at the feet of Nehru’s descendants, Rao gave hope by proving that in the ranks of Congress were capable leaders that could still hold their own when it came to leading the country.
But, there are quite some ironies in the tale of this memorable Prime Minister. Though a polyglot, who could converse in nearly two dozen languages, he was known more for his silence than for his eloquence. A man that was secular and sensible, it was under his regime that the shameful demolition of Babri Masjid took place, though he had played a vital role during the struggles against the Hyderabad Nizam in the 1940s. Though he had achieved many things in the five years with his minority government, the credit for many of his good initiatives went to his successors. Whether he deserves a Bharat Ratna or not is a topic worthy of debate and decision.
About the book, well, Sanjaya Baru has done an amazing work with his research and writing. Many of the books that I have read about History and Economy have all sounded so dry and dull. But this book feels more like a political thriller than like a work of non-fiction. The fluent style of Sanjaya Baru, reinforced by his impartial assessment of the prevailing scenario of that time, makes for interesting reading, though occasionally one gets the feeling that he tries to depict Narasimha Rao as a man without any faults. Baru makes up for it by not pulling any punches when it comes to criticizing the dynastic behavior of the current descendants of the Nehru clan.
This is a book that extensively recounts the economic and political changes in India during 1991. Changes that turned the tide in India’s favor and placed her on the path of economic progress. Changes that were brought about by an unsung hero that went from being respected to reviled in a life full of ironies.
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