PV Narsimha Rao Versus Congress

By now everyone including the most ardent Congress haters would acknowledge that the PV Narsimha Rao was the architect of the current day Indian Economy which has been growing at a rate only second to the Chinese. Rao became the PM when Rajiv died. Some people wanted the seat to go to Sonia but somehow Rao prevailed. He then selected Manmohan Singh who had never won an election as his Finance Minister (it turns out that Manmohan was the second choice). As per the article attached, Rao stood against the common wisdom of leftists like Arjun Singh and started the economic liberalization. Had it been anyone but Rao, we would still be growing at the Nehruvian rates. Rao deserves all the credit because this liberalization would have happened even with is first choice for Finance minister who was the director of the London School of Economics. So why is there a concerted effort in Congress to deny the credit where it belongs? One reason could be that the establishment in Congress wants all the credit given to the Gandhi family. No one would be surprised if that were the case. The sycophantic culture of Congress is no revelation to anyone but the most naïve.
There could, however be another reason. Bear with me for a moment. The Muslims are trying to revive the medieval version of Islam because they think that the glory days of Islam were due to the then religious practices rather than the innovation of the middle age Muslims. The same way, a number of Congressmen would want to go back to the pre-Narsimha Rao days of Congress when winning election for the Congress was a cinch. They think that the Nehruvian model of economics combined with the established vote bank politics (raising the bogey of Hindutva to scare the Muslims. Case in point is Digvijay Singh) will bring the glory days of Congress back. What they are completely ignoring is that the Indian voters have moved with the times (at least to some extent!). Last elections in Bihar tell us that at the end of the day, it is performance rather than caste politics, which will trump all other tricks. What part of the fact that the Muslims voted for the BJP in Gujarat do they not understand?
Congress is going through a crisis. After the BJP, it still is the distant second best choice for India especially if they make the inner machinations of the party more democratic rather than dynastic. Like the Muslims they need to look within and introspect rather than take the easy way out.

The Genie In The Shadows
Kalyani Shankar
"Rao let Manmohan take credit—perhaps because he preferred a low-profile style of leadership. As the IMF and the World Bank had already provided the basic framework for liberalisation, Rao allowed Manmohan a free hand to take every measure needed to meet the obligations to these international financial institutions. As Congress president, CPP leader and prime minister, Rao bore the brunt of criticism from his party and the opposition, since both saw Manmohan as Rao’s creation. As head of a minority government, Rao found it very difficult to push economic reforms through. There had been many stormy parliamentary party meetings in which senior cabinet ministers like Arjun Singh led the attack on Rao and Manmohan for their departure from the Nehruvian model. The Left and other opposition parties like the BJP also wouldn’t support liberalisation. In these circumstances, Rao took care to protect Manmohan from criticism and did not accept the latter’s resignation letters when the tempo of attacks intensified. "
The article can be read at: http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?269743