Sanjaya Baru's book throws light on PV Narasimha Rao

“It was P.V. Narasimha Rao who was made for greater things in the landmark year of 1991,” says Sanjaya Baru, who has written a book 1991 How P.V. Narasimha Rao Made History. The book was launched on Tuesday at the India International Centre in which former finance ministers Yashwant Sinha and P. Chidambaram were speakers.

The book is an account of the year 1991. It states how the economy was in a bad shape and the then Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar had given a go ahead for gold mortgage. The author states that Chandra Shekhar was doing a good job but it was destiny which chose P.V. Narasimha Rao.

The author recounts that the idea of this book came to his mind when he addressing a meeting of the Hyderabad Management Association. He asked the audience who introduced new economic policies in the country. The answer came Manmohan Singh. After that, some said Chidambaram while a few added Kamal Nath. However, nobody could recall P.V. Narasimha Rao, the architect of the economic reforms. Then the author came up with the idea of writing a book on 1991.

There is an incident in the book which states that Mr Chidambaram had resigned but he was confident that his resignation will not be accepted. He was “stunned” when his resignation was accepted by then Prime Minister Rao. However, Mr Chidambaram had a different story to tell. He said that this was not the case and he had informed the Prime Minister of his resignation and it was Mr Rao who had asked him to announce his resignation at a press conference.

Yashwant Sinha spoke about the early part of 1991 as how the then Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar saved India by mortgaging the gold so that India does not default on her borrowings. He said that, “Some things just stick to you and this was one which got stuck to me that I mortgaged the country’s gold, perhaps that’s why I decided not to contest