Pranab and Rao: Sidelined Congress stalwarts become Bharat Ratnas in BJP regime
When Rao was arrested by Delhi Police in October 1996 on charges of corruption, it was Mukherjee’s wife Geeta who gave surety and secured his bail
New Delhi: Prime Minister PV Narsimha Rao was a key catalyst in resurrecting Pranab Mukherjee’s career in the Congress party. Rao appointed Mukherjee, who was marginalized by Rajiv Gandhi, first as the deputy chairman of Planning Commission in 1991 and then as Commerce minister in 1993.
Three years later, when Rao was arrested by Delhi Police in October 1996 on charges of corruption, it was Mukherjee’s wife Geeta who gave surety and secured his bail.
The intertwined legacy of the two Congress stalwarts reached another milestone on Friday. Five years after Mukherjee was conferred the country’s highest civilian honour 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on X, “Delighted to share that our former Prime Minister, Shri PV Narasimha Rao Garu, will be honoured with the Bharat Ratna.”
It is interesting to note that both the Congress stalwarts honoured by the Modi government had a strained relationship with some in the Gandhi family . Mukherjee could never become the Prime Minister and his daughter Sharmistha’s book on her father has him telling a journalist that he had no expectation that Sonia Gandhi would make him the prime minister.
When Rao died in December 2004, his family members’ appeal to bring the body at the AICC headquarters was ruthlessly denied by powerful loyalists of then Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Rao’s son Prabhakara wanted his father to be cremated in his ‘karmabhoomi’ Delhi. That too, was denied.
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For years, Rao’s legacy especially in backing India’s economic reforms was deliberately overlooked. The party didn’t celebrate his birthday for years and his achievements were not a part of the Congress’ narrative. For decades, the Congress headquarters at 24, Akbar Road didn’t sport a single portrait of Rao anywhere within its sprawling premises.
Sharmistha, Mukherjee’s daughter, posted on X, “A fitting tribute to three legends-- Dr. MS Swaminathan, Ch.Charan Singh & PV Narasimha Rao by conferring #BharatRatna. I’m specially thrilled about Rao. A former PM &CP, he was marginalised within his own party & humiliated even after death as his body was not allowed 2 enter Cong HQ.”
“It’s ironical that tributes to Congress stalwarts (including my father) are coming from @BJP4India Govt. Really gracious of @narendramodi govt. to bestow such honours to leaders belonging to opposition parties. This a tribute to the core values of parliamentary democracy,” she tweeted.
Things changed when Manmohan Singh, who served Rao as finance minister, became the PM in 2004. Rao’s legacy came to the forefront with Singh’s rise as a political leader. Singh, for a change, never shied away from giving his political mentor due credit.
The NDA government’s decision to confer Bharat Ratna to the Congress stalwart is not bereft of political connotations. It underlines how the ruling dispensation is ready to make a distinction between Gandhi family members or dynasts and others. The announcement also comes after the Congress won Telangana and Karnataka and the BJP, out of power in south Indian states, is keen to make inroads on the other side of the Vindhyas
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