Andhra in mind, Sonia praises Narasimha Rao’s contribution
Congress president Sonia Gandhi made a rare mention of former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao in her presidential speech at the party’s plenary session here on Sunday.
The mention attains significance in view of the party's troubles in its stronghold Andhra Pradesh following the rebellion of Jaganmohan Reddy and is seen a move to stem dissidence in the state Congress.
“Rajiv Gandhi was with us for a brief while but in that eventful time, he set out our country firmly on the path to entering the 21st century from a position of strength. PV Narasimha Rao gave fresh impetus to the process of economic reforms,” she said in her speech.
Although Rao’s photograph was, as usual, missing from the gallery of leaders on the dais — which had pictures of all other Congress prime ministers — the fact that Sonia Gandhi chose to mention his contribution came as a surprise to partymen.
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After becoming the Prime Minister in 1991, Rao had fallen out with the Nehru-Gandhi family, which avoided any association with his name even after his death.
Even last December, during the foundation-laying function of the party headquarters, Sonia Gandhi had praised the contributions of all Prime Ministers, except Rao.
“Rajivji is not stay with us to see his dreams being realised but we can see his stamp in the party manifesto for 1991 elections. That became the basis for economic policies for the next five years,” she had stated then, clearly denying any credit to Rao under whose stewardship Manmohan Singh, who was the Finance Minister, had embarked on bold economic reforms.
Singh was present at the plenary session on Sunday when Gandhi chose to credit Rao for economic reforms.
Sonia Gandhi’s mention of Rao was construed in party circles as an obvious attempt to stem the rot in the Andhra Pradesh Congress following the exit of Jaganmohan Reddy and his mother Vijayalakshmi. With 33 MPs in the Lok Sabha. Andhra Pradesh is a crucial state in the party’s future scheme of things.
Although the Congress President skipped any mention of Andhra affairs in her speech, she indirectly addressed the issue saying, “Before I end, let me say that our future will be shaped not by a magic wand or by any single individual. Our future will depend on our party's capacity to work together as a team and to ensure that our organisation does not pull in different directions.”
“There are always personal disappointments in politics as, after all, in other walks of life. I can understand individual ambitions but when they are not fulfilled, the party's cohesion should not be jeopardised. The party must always come before individual,” she said.
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