Half - Lion: How P.V. Narasimha Rao Transformed India
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25. Interview with Velcheru Narayana Rao (on phone) in Atlanta, 2015.
26. Ibid.
27. Interview with P.V. Prabhakara Rao in Hyderabad, 2015.
28. Interview with Narasimha Rao’s eldest daughter in Hyderabad, 2015.
29. K. Natwar Singh, ‘How PV became PM’, The Hindu, 6 July 2012, http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/how-pv-became-pm/article3592050.ece.
30. Sanjay Chakravorty, Devesh Kapur and Nirvikar Singh, The Other One Percent: Indians in America (forthcoming).
31. Devesh Kapur, Diaspora, Development, and Democracy: The Domestic Impact of International Migration from India (New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2010).
32. Interview with Montek Singh Ahluwalia in Delhi, 2015.
33. Adiraju, The Right Prime Minister: A Political Biography of P.V. Narasimha Rao, 141.
34. Interview with the manager of Rao’s ancestral house in Vangara village, 2015.
35. Interview with P.V. Sharath Babu, nephew of P.V. Narasimha Rao, in Vangara, 2015.
36. Interview with villagers in Vangara (now in Telangana state), 2015.
37. Interview with Captain V. Lakshmikantha Rao in Warangal, 2015.
38. Interview with Mallaiah in Vangara village (now in Telangana state), 2015.
39. Interview with Kalyani Shankar in New Delhi, 2015.
40. Interview with Jairam Ramesh in New Delhi, 2016; confirmed by Kalyani Shankar via email, 2016.
41. Interview with K. Natwar Singh in New Delhi, 2016.
5. DELHI DURBAR, 1975–91
1. Draft chapter on the Emergency, found amongst Rao’s private papers in 2015.
2. Ramachandra Guha, India After Gandhi: The History of the World’s Largest Democracy, 467.
3. Adiraju, The Right Prime Minister: A Political Biography of P.V. Narasimha Rao, 143.
4. Interview with M. Narayan Reddy in Hyderabad, 2015.
5. Adiraju, The Right Prime Minister: A Political Biography of P.V. Narasimha Rao, 144.
6. Transcript of interview of P.V. Narasimha Rao with the journalist Neerja Chowdhary; copy found among Narasimha Rao’s private papers in 2015.
7. Interview with Satchidananda Swamy in Bangalore, 2015.
8. Interview with Narsa Reddy in Hyderabad, 2015.
9. Adiraju, The Right Prime Minister: A Political Biography of P.V. Narasimha Rao, 151.
10. Ibid., 151–52.
11. Ramachandra Guha, India After Gandhi: The History of the World’s Largest Democracy, 492.
12. Official Election Commission results of the 1977 General Election, available at http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/StatisticalReports/LS_1977/Vol_I_LS_77.pdf.
13. Francine Frankel, India’s Political Economy 1947–2004 (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, second edition, 2006), 571.
14. Adiraju, The Right Prime Minister: A Political Biography of P.V. Narasimha Rao, 153.
15. Interview with K.L.N. Rao in Hyderabad, 2015.
16. 1980 General Election results data available at http://www.elections.in/parliamentary-constituencies/1980-election-results.html.
17. Interview with P.V. Prabhakara Rao in Hyderabad, 2015.
18. Ibid.
19. Ibid.
20. Interview with Ronen Sen in New Delhi, 2015.
21. Ministry of Home Affairs data, available at http://www.mha.nic.in/hindi/sites/upload_files/mhahindi/files/pdf/BM_Intro_E_.pdf.
22. Transcript of interview of P.V. Narasimha Rao with the journalist Neerja Chowdhary; copy found among Narasimha Rao’s private papers in 2015.
23. Interview with Captain V. Lakshmikantha Rao in Warangal, 2015.
24. Voice recording of interview with Pranab Mukherjee (likely in the early 1990s) found in Rao’s archives in 2015.
25. Interview with Ramu Damodaran in New York, 2015.
26. P.C. Alexander, Through the Corridors of Power: An Insider’s Story (New Delhi: HarperCollins, 2004), 167–70.
27. Maya Chadda, Ethnicity, Security, and Separatism in India (New York: Columbia University Press, 1996), 135.
28. Pranab Mukherjee, The Turbulent Years: 1980–1996 (New Delhi: Rupa Publications, 2016), 34.
29. Natwar Singh, One Life Is Not Enough (New Delhi: Rupa Publications, 2014), 232.
30. Rao’s deposition to the Ranganath Mishra commission of inquiry; copy found amidst Rao’s private papers in 2015.
31. Ibid. In Pranab Mukherjee’s biography, he states that Rao was already in Delhi by the afternoon of 31 October.
32. Manoj Mitta and H.S. Phoolka, When a Tree Shook Delhi (New Delhi: Roli Books, Kindle edition, 2008), 492.
33. Ibid.
34. Tacitus, Annales, 1.7, available at http://perseus.uchicago.edu/perseus-cgi/citequery3.pl?dbname=PerseusLatinTexts&query=Tac.%20Ann.%201.7&getid=1. Quote suggested by Neel Maitra, 2016.
35. Rashid Kidwai, 24 Akbar Road (Gurgaon: Hachette India, 2011), 160.
36. Mitta and Phoolka, When a Tree Shook Delhi.
37. Ibid., 198.
38. ‘Bhopal’s deadly legacy’, the New York Times, 4 December 2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/05/opinion/bhopals-deadly-legacy.html.
39. Alan Taylor, ‘Bhopal: The World’s Worst Industrial Disaster, 30 Years Later’, the Atlantic, 2 December 2014, http://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2014/12/bhopal-the-worlds-worst-industrial-disaster-30-years-later/100864/.
40. Singh (with Chopra), A Grain of Sand in the Hourglass of Time: An Autobiography, 176.
41. Ibid., 179.
42. Hasan, Congress after Indira: Policy, Power, Political Change (1984–2009), 13.
43. Interview with Captain V. Lakshmikantha Rao in Warangal, 2015.
44. Photograph given to the author by P.V. Prabhakara Rao in Hyderabad, 2015.
45. Interview with P.V. Prabhakara Rao in Hyderabad, 2015.
46. Voice recording of interview with Pranab Mukherjee (likely in the early 1990s) found in Rao’s archives in 2015.
47. Singh, One Life Is Not Enough, 240.
48. Interview with Dr V.S. Arunachalam in Bangalore, 2015.
49. Interview with Ramu Damodaran in New York, 2016.
50. Ibid.
51. Jairam Ramesh, To the Brink and Back: India’s 1991 Story (New Delhi: Rupa Publications, 2015), 137.
52. Akshay Mangla, ‘Bureaucratic Politics and Universal Primary Education in India’, unpublished draft, September 2015, 8.
53. Ibid., 9.
54. Ibid.
55. Interview with Sadanand Menon in Chennai, 2014.
56. Ibid.
57. P.V. Narasimha Rao, Ayodhya: 6 December 1992 (New Delhi: Penguin Books, 2006), 49.
58. Singh, One Life Is Not Enough, 261–62.
59. Ibid., 262.
60. Sanjoy Hazarika, ‘Indian army agrees to leave Sri Lanka’, the New York Times, 19 September 1989, http://www.nytimes.com/1989/09/19/world/indian-army-agrees-to-leave-sri-lanka.html.
61. Arvind Panagariya, ‘India in the 1980s and 1990s: A Triumph of Reform’, IMF seminar paper, 6 November 2003, https://www.imf.org/external/np/apd/seminars/2003/newdelhi/pana.pdf.
62. ‘These included the P. C. Alexander Committee Report on Import and Export Policies of 1978, the Vadilal Dagli Report of the Committee on Controls and Subsidies of 1978, the Abid Hussain Committee Report on Trade Policy of 1984 and the M. Narasimham Report on Industrial Licensing of 1985.’ Shankkar Aiyar, Accidental India: A History of The Nation’s Passage through Crisis and Change, 696.
63. Atul Kohli, ‘Politics of Liberalization in India’, World Development 17, no. 3 (1989): 308–11.
64. Hasan, Congress after Indira: Policy, Power, Political Change (1984–2009), 48.
65. Kohli, ‘Politics of Liberalization in India’, World Development, 312.
66. Sumantra Ghoshal et al., World Class in India: A Casebook of Companies in Transformation (New Delhi: Penguin Books, 2001), 167.
67. Dani Rodrik and Arvind Subramanian, ‘From “Hindu Growth” to Productivity Surge: The Mystery of the Indian Growth Transition’, IMF working paper (May
2004), 5.
68. Arvind Panagariya, ‘India in the 1980s and 1990s: A Triumph of Reform’, IMF seminar paper, 6 November 2003, https://www.imf.org/external/np/apd/seminars/2003/newdelhi/pana.pdf.
69. There is considerable debate between those who argue that this deficit-led growth of the 1980s was its primary problem (e.g. Montek Ahluwalia, T.N. Srinivasan) and those who disagree (e.g. Dani Rodrik and Arvind Subramanian). See Dani Rodrik and Arvind Subramanian, ‘From “Hindu Growth” to Productivity Surge: The Mystery of the Indian Growth Transition’, 17.
70. Kohli, ‘Politics of Liberalization in India’, World Development, 318–22.
71. Hasan, Congress after Indira: Policy, Power, Political Change (1984–2009), 50.
72. Frankel, India’s Political Economy 1947–2004, 587–88.
73. Interview with P.V. Prabhakara Rao in Hyderabad, 2015.
74. Ramesh, To the Brink and Back: India’s 1991 Story, 5.
75. Letter dated 13 December 1990 to commerce minister Subramanian Swamy, found amidst Rao’s private papers in 2015.
76. Interview with Prabhakar Menon in Delhi, 2015.
77. Printed diary entry dated 22 June 1991, found amidst Rao’s private papers in 2015.
78. Television interview of Kiran Kumar Reddy, available at http://youtu.be/4FDcVeyvgIA.
79. K. Natwar Singh, ‘Thatcher, Chandraswami and I’, The Hindu, 9 April 2013, http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/thatcher-chandraswami-and-i/article4595546.ece.
80. Interview with Chandraswami in Delhi, 2015.
81. Interview with Srinath Raghavan in Delhi, 2015.
82. Interview with Shravan, grandson of Narasimha Rao, in Hyderabad, 2015.
83. Interview with R. Srinivasan in Chennai, 2015. Full disclosure: He is the author’s uncle.
84. Interview with Velcheru Narayana Rao (on phone) in Atlanta, 2015.
85. 1989 manifesto of the Congress party, 40–41.
86. Letter found amidst Rao’s private papers in 2015.
87. Ibid.
88. Ibid.
89. Note found amidst Rao’s private papers in 2015.
90. Interview with Shekhar Gupta in Delhi, 2015.
91. Ramesh, To the Brink and Back: India’s 1991 Story, 142.
92. Congressman, ‘The Great Suicide’, Mainstream, 27 January 1990, http://www.mainstreamweekly.net/article5438.html.
93. Interview with Dr Srinath Reddy in Delhi, 2015.
94. Interview with P.V. Rajeshwara Rao in Hyderabad, 2015.
95. Official website of Siddheshwari Peetham, http://www.siddheswaripeetham.org/peethadhipathi-parampara/.
96. Interview with P.V. Prabhakara Rao in Hyderabad, 2015, and Satchidananda Swamy in Bangalore, 2015.
6. MONK TO MONARCH
1. Interview with P.V.R.K. Prasad in Hyderabad, 2015.
2. Letter found amidst Rao’s private papers in 2015.
3. Interview with P.V. Prabhakara Rao in Hyderabad, 2015.
4. Printed diary entry dated 22 June 1991, found amidst Rao’s private papers in 2015.
5. Interview with Subramanian Swamy in New Delhi, 2015.
6. Interview with Kalyani Shankar in New Delhi, 2015.
7. Interview with Ronen Sen in New Delhi, 2015.
8. P.V. Prabhakara Rao says that his father got membership of IIC, Delhi in 1990–91; confirmed by Salman Haidar in New Delhi, 2015.
9. Appointment Diary 1991, written by Rao’s secretary, Khandekar, and found amidst his private papers in 2015.
10. Printed diary entry found amidst Rao’s private papers in 2015.
11. Interview with Ronen Sen in New Delhi, 2015.
12. Interview with P.V. Rajeshwara Rao in Hyderabad, 2015.
13. Interview with Gopalkrishna Gandhi in Chennai, 2015.
14. Interview with Rajeshwara Rao in Hyderabad, 2015.
15. Confirmed in interviews with Prabhakara Rao, Rajeshwara Rao, P.V.R.K. Prasad (all in Hyderabad) and Satchidananda Swamy (in Bengaluru) in 2015.
16. 11 May 1991 entry in his 1991 Appointment Diary, maintained by Rao’s secretary, R.K. Khandekar, and found amidst his private papers in 2015.
17. Official Election Commission results data of the 1991 General Election, available at http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/StatisticalReports/LS_1991/VOL_I_91.pdf.
18. 22 May 1991 entry in Rao’s 1991 Appointment Diary, found amidst his private papers in 2015.
19. K.M.H.C.B. Kulatunga, ‘When Tigers Killed Rajiv Gandhi 22 Years Ago’, Sunday Observer, Colombo, 19 May 2013, http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2013/05/19/fea05.asp
20. Printed diary entry found amidst Rao’s private papers in 2015.
21. Interview with Gopalkrishna Gandhi in Chennai, 2015.
22. 22 May 1991 entry in Rao’s 1991 Appointment Diary, found amidst his private papers in 2015.
23. Ibid.
24. Ibid.
25. Singh (with Chopra), A Grain of Sand in the Hourglass of Time: An Autobiography, 240.
26. 22 May 1991 entry in Rao’s 1991 Appointment Diary, found amidst his private papers in 2015.
27. Kidwai, 24 Akbar Road, 151.
28. Alexander, Through the Corridors of Power: An Insider’s Story, 402.
29. Ibid., pp. 402–03.
30. Robert Benjamin, ‘Thousands mourn as Gandhi’s body is cremated’, Baltimore Sun, 25 May 1991, http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1991-05-25/news/1991145017_1_gandhi-rajiv-india.
31. Mukherjee, The Turbulent Years: 1980–1996, 131.
32. Robert Benjamin, ‘Thousands mourn as Gandhi’s body is cremated’.
33. Kidwai, 24 Akbar Road, 156.
34. K. Natwar Singh, ‘How PV became PM’, The Hindu, 6 July 2012, http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/how-pv-became-pm/article3592050.ece.
35. Ibid.
36. Interview with Satish Sharma in New Delhi, 2015.
37. Ibid.
38. Ibid.
39. Kalyani Shankar, Pandora’s Daughters (New Delhi: Bloomsbury India, 2013), 45. Confirmed in an interview, 2015.
40. Interview with Subramanian Swamy in New Delhi, 2015.
41. Letter found amidst Rao’s private papers in 2015.
42. Adiraju, The Right Prime Minister: A Political Biography of P.V. Narasimha Rao, 189.
43. Interview with Jairam Ramesh in New Delhi, 2015.
44. Interview with Salman Khurshid in New Delhi, 2015.
45. Kidwai, 24 Akbar Road, 161.
46. Alexander, Through the Corridors of Power: An Insider’s Story, 406.
47. Ibid., 405.
48. Interview with Subramanian Swamy in New Delhi, 2015.
49. Interview with N.K. Sharma in New Delhi, 2015.
50. 17 June 1991 entry in Rao’s 1991 Appointment Diary, found amidst his private papers in 2015.
51. George Perkovich, India’s Nuclear Bomb: The Impact of Global Proliferation (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1999), 320.
52. R.D. Pradhan, My Years with Rajiv and Sonia (New Delhi: Hay House India, 2014), 170–71.
53. Alexander, Through the Corridors of Power: An Insider’s Story, 407.
54. ‘Pawar declares his candidature’, the Times of India, 20 June 1991, 1.
55. Singh (with Chopra), A Grain of Sand in the Hourglass of Time: An Autobiography, 329.
56. Interview with Kalyani Shankar in New Delhi, 2015.
57. Interview with M.K. Narayanan in Chennai, 2015.
58. R. Venkataraman, My Presidential Years (New Delhi: Harper Collins, 1994): Jairam Ramesh, To the Brink and Back: India’s 1991 Story, 23.
59. Ramesh, To the Brink and Back: India’s 1991 Story, 6.
60. Interview with Jairam Ramesh in New Delhi, 2015.
61. Interview with Naresh Chandra in New Delhi, 2015.
62. Interview with Manmohan Singh in New Delhi, 2015.
63. Ibid.
64. Interview with Montek Singh Ahluwalia in New Delhi, 2015.
65. Ibid.
66. ‘Narasimha sworn in ninth PM’, the Times of India, 22 June 1991
, 1.
67. Cover, India Today, 15 July 1991.
68. Zafar Agha, ‘New government: Back to the old guard’, India Today, 15 July 1991, http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/narasimha-rao-election-as-prime-minister-heralds-return-of-the-old-congress-guard/1/318487.html.
69. P.V. Narasimha Rao Selected Speeches 1991–1992, 3–4.
70. Interview with Naresh Chandra in New Delhi, 2015.
7. RESCUING THE ECONOMY, 1991–92
1. Aiyar, Accidental India: A History of the Nation’s Passage through Crisis and Change, 1081–87.
2. The flight was caught by enterprising journalists of the Indian Express, led by Shankkar Aiyar.
3. Ramesh, To the Brink and Back: India’s 1991 Story, 16.
4. Ibid., 11.
5. Quoted directly from Daman Singh, Strictly Personal: Manmohan & Gursharan (New Delhi: HarperCollins, 2014), 373.
6. Aiyar, Accidental India: A History of the Nation’s Passage through Crisis and Change, 1048.
7. P.V. Narasimha Rao Selected Speeches 1991–1992, 106
8. Ramesh, To the Brink and Back: India’s 1991 Story, 31.
9. Singh, Strictly Personal: Manmohan & Gursharan, 353.
10. Ibid., pp. 359–60.
11. Interview with Montek Singh Ahluwalia in Delhi, 2015.
12. Singh, Strictly Personal: Manmohan & Gursharan, 355.
13. Rob Jenkins, Democratic Politics and Economic Reform in India (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 41.
14. 1991 General Election manifesto of the Indian National Congress(I), 22.
15. Ibid., 24.
16. Mancur Olson, The Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the Theory of Groups (Harvard Economic Studies, revised edition, 1971).
17. Interview with Naresh Chandra in Delhi, 2015.
18. Interview with Subramanian Swamy in New Delhi, 2015.
19. Interview with Jairam Ramesh in New Delhi, 2015.
20. Interview with Sanjaya Baru in New Delhi, 2015.
21. Interview with Manmohan Singh in New Delhi, 2015.
22. Ramesh, To the Brink and Back: India’s 1991 Story, 18–19.
23. Report of the South Commission: The Challenge to the South (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990), http://www.southcentre.int/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/The-Challenge-to-the-South_EN.pdf.
24. Singh, Strictly Personal: Manmohan & Gursharan, 349–50.
25. Story narrated to the author by an official who had worked with Rao at the time, and who wishes to remain anonymous.