Pamulaparthi Venkata Narasimha Rao is one of the forgotten heroes of Indian politics. He had very nearly retired from active politics and returned to his home-state, Andhra Pradesh, when Rajiv Gandhi succumbed to the suicide bombers in Sriperumbudur during the course of the 1991 election campaign. PVN re-entered the “cesspool” to become India’s first prime minister from the South, eventually becoming the first from outside the Gandhi-Nehru clan to complete a full five-year term despite leading a minority government.
The slow, soft, measured “Chanakya” quietly ushered breathtaking economic reforms through Manmohan Singh that, at first, rescued an almost bankrupt nation from collapse and then set it on the path of high growth, while beginning the dismantling the licence-quota-permit raj. Yet, it would be fair to say PVN, who presided over the demolition of the Babri masjid in Ayodhya paving the way for the BJP-led government of Atal Behari Vajpayee, has not got his due, either as a prime minister or as a visionary.
Corruption charges swirled around the scholarly Rao and his family in his later years. He could not get a decent funeral in Delhi. And even to this day, there is only grudging acknowledgement of PVN’s role in India’s contemporary politics. At Rao’s birth celebrations on June 20, Chiranjeevi, the film star-turned-politician, floated PVN’s name for the nation’s highest civilian honour, Bharat Ratna. Is it time for the nation to salute PVN’s role? Or has he already been consigned to the dustbin of history?
Also read: If all PMs are Bharat Ratnas, why are we like this?
CHURUMURI POLL: Anybody for the Bharat Ratna?
churumuri 
When his dead body wasn’t allowed to enter the HQ and left outside the gates (on Akbar Road), giving him an award now would be a very distant possibility, unless Tyag Maata sees some use for the family out of this.
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Sorry, he was not in the good books of our current royal family and hence cannot hope to receive ANY honour.
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What did likes of VV Giri, Zakir Hussain, MG Ramachandran etc. accomplish to be conferred Bharat Rathna? Why should poor PVN be thrown into dustbin of history. The Dynasty refused even a burial to him in New delhi, with all the ghats reserved only for the family including dear sanjay. I do not think the Dynasty will allow a Bharath Ratna to be given to PVN, who did a wonderful job as PM to put us on a development path. Without him we would have still been living on a 2$ a day per capita socialist republic.
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Please give “Bharat Ratna” to Mr.Harshad Mehta (great mathematician) also along with PVN.
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Whatever be the merits of PVN for Bharat Ratna..we must not resort to the practice of giving this Award pothomously..then there will avalance of names from across the states and creating unwanted trouble for the govt that has to focus its energy else..
Aided reforms pr aided Masjid demolition ? let the people decide on that…
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Deve Gowda deserves the bharat ratna more than PVN
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@Andy,
MGR and Kamaraj were awarded Bharat Rathna posthumously. Posthumous award of Bharat Rathna is in practice.
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Yes. He must get.
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The dynastic family will never allow this to happen, even though PVN eminently deserves this award and much more for his contribution to the nation.
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Everybody in India should be awarded atleast 1 Bharata Ratna.
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Even the YSR government in Andhra did not respect him. There was a demand to name the Hyderabad Airport after him. But no, YSR named it after Rajiv Gandhi.
Icing on the cake: The road leading to airport is named after PVN.
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http://suhanasafarwithme.blogspot.com/2009/07/how-many-more-rajiv-gandhis-to-come.html
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Has Bharat Ratna become a joke? Abhi is right. That is why we have started ‘State Ratnas’ as well. Hey would you please call me when they institute Panchayat Ratnas and Municipal Ratnas as well?
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