Half - Lion: How P.V. Narasimha Rao Transformed India

by Vinay Sitapati

  34. Interview with Gopalkrishna Gandhi in Chennai, 2015.

  35. Ibid.

  36. Zafar Agha, ‘Damage control exercise’, India Today, 15 December 1995, http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/in-deft-move-rao-reaches-out-to-sonia-while-consolidating-position-in-congressi-in-disarray/1/289719.html.

  37. Ibid.

  38. Interview with Prabhakara Rao in Hyderabad, 2015.

  39. Interview with P.V.R.K. Prasad in Hyderabad, 2015.

  40. For details on economic reforms as recorded in the official Congress website, see http://www.inc.in/about-congress/history/literature/5-Journey-of-a-Nation/13-A-New-Political-Reality.

  12. THE FALL OF BABRI MASJID

  1. ‘Sadhus call for kar seva’, the Times of India, 6 December 1992, 1.

  2. Interview with Dr Srinath Reddy in Delhi, 2015.

  3. Commission of Inquiry Report of the Liberhan Ayodhya Commission of Inquiry, 2009 (New Delhi: Akalank Publications, 2010), 9.

  4. Ibid., 27.

  5. Rao, Ayodhya: 6 December 1992, 4.

  6. Ibid.

  7. Krishna Jha and Dhiren K. Jha, Ayodhya: The Dark Night, The Secret History of Rama’s Appearance in Babri Masjid (New Delhi: HarperCollins, 2012).

  8. Rao, Ayodhya: 6 December 1992, 21–22.

  9. Ibid., 9, 24.

  10. Hasan, Congress after Indira: Policy, Power, Political Change (1984–2009), 19.

  11. Ibid., 19–20.

  12. Sharat Pradhan, ‘Mulayam and the Muslim vote’, Tehelka, 2 September 2013, http://www.tehelka.com/2013/09/mulayam-and-the-muslim-vote/.

  13. Piyush Srivastava, ‘Mulayam admits 1990 Ayodhya shooting lost him Hindu vote bank’, Daily Mail, 23 March 2015, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-3008147/Mulayam-admits-1990-Ayodhya-shooting-lost-Hindu-votebank.html.

  14. Official Election Commission results of the 1991 Uttar Pradesh assembly election, available at http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/StatisticalReports/SE_1991/Stat_Rep_UP_91.pdf.

  15. Interview with Ramu Damodaran in New York, 2015.

  16. Rao, Ayodhya: 6 December 1992, 89.

  17. Article 356 of the Constitution of India, 1950.

  18. Harbir Singh Kathuria, President’s rule in India, 1967–89 (New Delhi: Uppal Publishing House, 1990).

  19. Commission of Inquiry Report of the Liberhan Ayodhya Commission of Inquiry, 2009, para 30.11, 58.

  20. Ibid., para 30.14, 59.

  21. Rao, Ayodhya: 6 December 1992, 90.

  22. Interview with P.V.R.K. Prasad in Hyderabad, 2015.

  23. Singh (with Chopra), A Grain of Sand in the Hourglass of Time: An Autobiography, 251–69.

  24. P.V. Narasimha Rao Selected Speeches 1992–1993, 8.

  25. Ibid., 10.

  26. Note found amidst Rao’s private papers in 2015.

  27. Madhav Godbole, Unfinished Innings: Recollections and Reflections of a Civil Servant (New Delhi: Orient Longman, 1996), 347.

  28. Interview with Naresh Chandra in Delhi, 2015.

  29. Godbole, Unfinished Innings: Recollections and Reflections of a Civil Servant, 351.

  30. P.V. Narasimha Rao Selected Speeches 1992–1993, 30.

  31. Godbole, Unfinished Innings: Recollections and Reflections of a Civil Servant, 334.

  32. Rao, Ayodhya: 6 December 1992, 99.

  33. Godbole describes part of the contingency note in his memoir, though the entire note has not been made public elsewhere. Godbole, Unfinished Innings: Recollections and Reflections of a Civil Servant, 363–65.

  34. Ibid., 396.

  35. Singh (with Chopra), A Grain of Sand in the Hourglass of Time: An Autobiography, 249–50.

  36. Godbole, Unfinished Innings: Recollections and Reflections of a Civil Servant, 368.

  37. Mukherjee, The Turbulent Years: 1980–1996, 155.

  38. Commission of Inquiry Report of the Liberhan Ayodhya Commission of Inquiry, 2009, 98.

  39. ‘Jyoti Basu’s Deposition before Liberhan Commission’, People’s Democracy 36, no. 49 (9 December 2012).

  40. Interview with Kalyani Shankar in New Delhi, 2015.

  41. Rao, Ayodhya: 6 December 1992, 120.

  42. Story told to the author by one of Rao’s close aides, who demanded anonymity.

  43. Girish Kuber, ‘Narasimha Rao’s book gives new twist to demolition’, Economic Times, 28 April 2008, http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2006-04-27/news/27459247_1_kar-sevaks-central-rule-ayodhya.

  44. Prasad, Wheels behind the Veil: PMs, CMs and beyond, 164.

  45. Godbole, Unfinished Innings: Recollections and Reflections of a Civil Servant, 364–65.

  46. Interview with Salman Haidar in New Delhi, 2015.

  47. Ibid.

  48. Singh (with Chopra), A Grain of Sand in the Hourglass of Time: An Autobiography, 228.

  49. Rao, Ayodhya: 6 December 1992, 48.

  50. Interview with Mani Shankar Aiyar in New Delhi, 2015.

  51. Interview with P.V.R.K. Prasad in Hyderabad, 2015.

  52. Entries in Appointment Diary 1992, written by Rao’s secretary, Khandekar; found amidst Rao’s private papers in 2015.

  53. Interview with Chandraswami in Delhi, 2015.

  54. Interview with N.K. Sharma in New Delhi, 2015.

  55. Ibid.

  56. Interview with Naresh Chandra in Delhi, 2015.

  57. Kidwai, 24 Akbar Road, 175.

  58. Rao, Ayodhya: 6 December 1992, 100.

  59. Interview with P.V.R.K. Prasad in Hyderabad, 2015.

  60. Godbole, Unfinished Innings: Recollections and Reflections of a Civil Servant, 352.

  61. Interview with Chandraswami in New Delhi, 2015.

  62. A.G. Noorani, ‘Silent Spectator’, Frontline 23, no. 10 (20 May–2 June 2006), http://www.frontline.in/static/html/fl2310/stories/20060602000707900.htm.

  63. Interview with Naresh Chandra in Delhi, 2015.

  64. Interview with Jairam Ramesh in New Delhi, 2015.

  65. Hasan, Congress after Indira: Policy, Power, Political Change (1984–2009), 26.

  66. Interview with Salman Khurshid in New Delhi, 2015.

  67. Ibid.

  68. Singh (with Chopra), A Grain of Sand in the Hourglass of Time: An Autobiography, 272–75.

  69. Interview with Mani Shankar Aiyar in New Delhi, 2015.

  70. Note found amidst Rao’s private papers in 2015.

  71. Interview with N.K. Sharma in New Delhi, 2015.

  72. Interview with Naresh Chandra in Delhi, 2015.

  73. Interview with Rajaiah in Vangara village (now in Telangana), 2015.

  74. Note found amidst Rao’s private papers in 2015.

  75. Commission of Inquiry Report of the Liberhan Ayodhya Commission of Inquiry, 2009, para 44.18, 119.

  76. Ibid., para 44.24, 120.

  77. Singh (with Chopra), A Grain of Sand in the Hourglass of Time: An Autobiography, 277.

  78. The claim was made by the journalist Kuldip Nayar, who said that he was told by the socialist leader Madhu Limaye, who, in turn, claimed he heard it from someone present. See ‘Narasimha Rao performed puja during demolition of Babri Masjid: Book’, the Times of India, 5 July 2012, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Narasimha-Rao-performed-puja-during-demolition-of-Babri-Masjid-Book/articleshow/14687884.cms.

  79. Interview with S. Rajgopal in Mumbai, 2015.

  80. Godbole, Unfinished Innings: Recollections and Reflections of a Civil Servant, 383.

  81. ‘Absurd to say PV was incommunicado during Ayodhya demolition’, Rediff, 9 July 2012, http://www.rediff.com/news/report/slide-show-1-arjun-singhs-story-on-ayodhya-demolition-cock-and-bull/20120709.htm.

  82. Interview with Salman Khurshid in New Delhi, 2015.

  83. Commission of Inquiry Report of the Liberhan Ayodhya Commission of Inquiry, 2009, paras 44.6–44.7, 117–18.

  84. Ibid., para 44.42, 122.

  85. Ibid., para 44.31, 121.

  86. Ibid., para 44.30, 121.

  87. M.G. Gupta and Vijay Jung Thapa, ‘Kar Sevaks Destroyed Bab
ri Masjid’, the Times of India, 7 December, 1992, 1.

  88. P.V. Narasimha Rao Selected Speeches 1992–1993, 63–65.

  89. Ibid.

  90. Entry in Appointment Diary 1992, found amidst Rao’s private papers in 2015.

  91. Interview with N.K. Sharma in New Delhi, 2015.

  92. Appointment Diary 1992, written by Rao’s secretary, R.K. Khandekar; found amidst his private papers in 2015.

  93. Hasan, Congress after Indira: Policy, Power, Political Change (1984–2009), 35.

  94. Note found amidst Rao’s private papers in 2015.

  95. Edward A. Gargan, ‘India, Acting on Militants, Ousts Local Rulers’, the New York Times, 16 December 1992, http://www.nytimes.com/1992/12/16/world/india-acting-on-militants-ousts-local-rulers.html.

  96. Quotes accessible at http://www.ucanews.com/story-archive/?post_name=/1992/12/23/experts-deplore-rao-governments-dismissal-of-prohindu-ministries&post_id=42523.

  97. S.R. Bommai vs Union of India, AIR, 1994, SC 1918.

  98. Commission of Inquiry Report of the Liberhan Ayodhya Commission of Inquiry, 2009, ch. 14.

  99. ‘No-trust Motion Defeated’, the Times of India, 22 December 1993, 1.

  100. Interview with Mani Shankar Aiyar in New Delhi, 2015.

  101. Interview with Jairam Ramesh in New Delhi, 2015.

  102. Interview with Salman Khurshid in New Delhi, 2015.

  103. ‘Babri wouldn’t have fallen if a Gandhi was PM: Rahul’, the Times of India, 20 March 2007, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Babri-wouldnt-have-fallen-if-a-Gandhi-was-PM-Rahul/articleshow/1781018.cms.

  104. ‘Babri demolition planned; Advani, P V Narasimha Rao knew of plot: Cobrapost sting, the Times of India, 4 April 2014, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Babri-demolition-planned-Advani-P-V-Narasimha-Rao-knew-of-plot-Cobrapost-sting/articleshow/33202922.cms.

  105. Ibid.

  106. For the official judgments, see http://elegalix.allahabadhighcourt.in/elegalix/DisplayAyodhyaBenchLandingPage.do.

  107. Mukherjee, The Turbulent Years: 1980–1996, 154.

  108. Godbole, Unfinished Innings: Recollections and Reflections of a Civil Servant, 337.

  109. Interview with Salman Khurshid in New Delhi, 2015.

  110. Ibid.

  111. Rao, Ayodhya: 6 December 1992, 181.

  13. LOOK EAST, LOOK WEST

  1. Ramesh, To the Brink and Back: India’s 1991 Story, 11.

  2. Sunanda K. Datta-Ray, Looking East to Looking West: Lee Kuan Yew’s Mission India (New Delhi: Penguin Books, 2009), 78.

  3. Letters found among Narasimha Rao’s private papers in 2015.

  4. Interview with Shravan, grandson of Narasimha Rao, in Hyderabad, 2015.

  5. See Srinath Raghavan, ‘At the Cusp of Transformation: The Rajiv Gandhi Years, 1984–89’, in David M. Malone, C. Raja Mohan and Srinath Raghavan, eds, The Oxford Handbook of Indian Foreign Policy (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2015, first edition).

  6. Interview with Salman Haidar in New Delhi, 2015.

  7. Interview with Ramu Damodaran in New York, 2015.

  8. Ibid.

  9. Raj Chengappa, ‘PM in Germany: Striking the right note’, India Today, 30 September 1991, http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/narasimha-rao-candid-approach-makes-an-impact-in-germany/1/318862.html.

  10. Interview with Velcheru Narayana Rao (on phone) in Atlanta, 2015.

  11. Interview with Ramu Damodaran in New York, 2015.

  12. Interview with Rajaiah in Vangara village (now in Telangana), 2015.

  13. Interview with P.V.R.K. Prasad in Hyderabad, 2015.

  14. Transcript of conversation found among Narasimha Rao’s private papers in 2015.

  15. Shekhar Gupta, ‘Indo-Soviet ties: cooling of an affair’, India Today, 15 September 1991, http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/balmy-days-over-indo-soviet-treaty-a-mere-ceremonial-document/1/318757.html.

  16. Interview with Ronen Sen in New Delhi, 2015.

  17. Ibid.

  18. Interview with Krishnan Srinivasan (on phone) in Kolkata, 2015.

  19. Prabhakar Menon, ‘The Quiet Innovator: Foreign Policy under P.V. Narasimha Rao’, in K.V. Rajan, ed., The Ambassador’s Club: The Indian Diplomat at Large (New Delhi: HarperCollins, 2012), 302.

  20. Nicolas Blarel, The Evolution of India’s Israel Policy: Continuity, Change, and Compromise since 1922 (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2014), 236.

  21. Shubhajit Roy, ‘24 years on, why India looks set to finally come out of the closet on Israel’, the Indian Express, 14 January 2016, http://indianexpress.com/article/explained/in-fcat-why-india-looks-set-to-finally-come-out-of-the-closet-on-israel/.

  22. Shekhar Gupta, ‘A pragmatic peace’, India Today, 21 June 2013, http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/india-israel-to-establish-full-diplomatic-relations/1/306258.html/.

  23. P.V. Narasimha Rao Selected Speeches 1991–1992, 111.

  24. J.N. Dixit, My South Block Years: Memoirs of a Foreign Secretary (New Delhi: UBS Publishers Distributors, 1997), 143.

  25. M.K. Bhadrakumar, ‘As shadow of terror hangs over talks with Pakistan, Narasimha Rao has a lesson for Modi’, Scroll.in, 4 January 2016, http://scroll.in/article/801319/as-shadow-of-terror-hangs-over-talks-with-pakistan-narasimha-rao-has-a-lesson-for-modi.

  26. S. Samuel C. Rajiv, ‘The Delicate Balance: Israel and India’s Foreign Policy Practice’, Strategic Analysis 36, no. 1, 128–44, 128.

  27. Interview with Krishnan Srinivasan (on phone) in Kolkata, 2015.

  28. P.V. Narasimha Rao Selected Speeches 1991–1992, 362.

  29. Email interview with C. Raja Mohan, 2016.

  30. Interview with Ronen Sen in New Delhi, 2015.

  31. Ministry of Home Affairs data, available at http://www.mha.nic.in/hindi/sites/upload_files/mhahindi/files/pdf/BM_Intro_E_.pdf.

  32. Srinath Raghavan, ‘At the Cusp of Transformation: The Rajiv Gandhi Years, 1984–89’, 125 (uncorrected proofs), in Malone, Mohan and Raghavan, eds, The Oxford Handbook of Indian Foreign Policy.

  33. Interview with M.K. Narayanan in Chennai, 2015.

  34. Note found among Narasimha Rao’s private papers in 2015.

  35. Prabhakar Menon, ‘The Quiet Innovator: Foreign Policy under P.V. Narasimha Rao’, in K.V. Rajan, ed., The Ambassador’s Club: The Indian Diplomat at Large, 296–97.

  36. Interview with Prabhakar Menon in Delhi, 2015.

  37. Full text of agreement available at http://peacemaker.un.org/sites/peacemaker.un.org/files/CN%20IN_930907_Agreement%20on%20India-China%20Border%20Areas.pdf.

  38. Interview with Ronen Sen in New Delhi, 2015.

  39. Interview with M.K. Narayanan in Chennai, 2015.

  40. Kidwai, 24 Akbar Road, 179.

  41. Interview with Salman Haidar in New Delhi, 2015.

  42. Interview with S. Vani Devi in Hyderabad, 2015.

  43. P.V. Narasimha Rao Selected Speeches 1993–1994, 402–403.

  44. Interview with Salman Haidar in New Delhi, 2015.

  45. Menon, ‘The Quiet Innovator: Foreign Policy under P.V. Narasimha Rao’, 301.

  46. Sudeep Chakravarti, ‘Rao’s roadshow’, India Today, 30 August 1993, http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/pm-narasimha-rao-emerges-as-a-competent-diplomat-abroad/1/302131.html.

  47. Salil Tripathi, ‘Rediscovering the East’, India Today, 30 September 1993, http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/rao-trip-opens-up-investment-opportunities-for-india-with-economic-tigers-of-east/1/294152.html.

  48. Menon, ‘The Quiet Innovator: Foreign Policy under P.V. Narasimha Rao’, 302.

  49. Interview with Prabhakar Menon in Delhi, 2015.

  50. Menon, ‘The Quiet Innovator: Foreign Policy under P.V. Narasimha Rao’, 302.

  51. Sanjaya Baru, ‘Strongman who took Singapore to the first world’, The Hindu, 24 March 2015, http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/strongman-who-took-singapore-to-the-first-world/article7024865.ece.

  52. Interview with Jairam Ramesh in New Delhi, 2015.

  53. ‘Singapore knoc
ks off Mauritius as top FDI source into India in current fiscal, Economic Times, 6 December 2015, http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-12-06/news/68809344_1_india-singapore-mauritius-double-taxation-avoidance-agreement.

  54. Kohli, State-Directed Development: Political Power and Industrialization in the Global Periphery.

  55. Interview with P.V.R.K. Prasad in Hyderabad, 2015.

  56. P.V. Narasimha Rao Selected Speeches 1991–1992, 323.

  57. Interview with Ramu Damodaran in New York, 2015.

  58. Menon, ‘The Quiet Innovator: Foreign Policy under P.V. Narasimha Rao’, 291.

  59. Andrew North, ‘Siachen dispute: India and Pakistan’s glacial fight’, BBC News, 12 April 2014, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-26967340.

  60. ‘Siachen was almost a done deal in 1992’, The Hindu, 10 June 2012, http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/siachen-was-almost-a-done-deal-in-1992/article3509787.ece.

  61. Interview with Prabhakar Menon in Delhi, 2015.

  62. Ibid.

  63. ‘Siachen was almost a done deal in 1992’, The Hindu, http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/siachen-was-almost-a-done-deal-in-1992/article3509787.ece.

  64. Interview with Salman Khurshid in New Delhi, 2015.

  65. Krishnan Srinivasan, Diplomatic Channels (New Delhi: Manohar Publishers, 2012), 36–37.

  66. Cover, India Today, 31 March 1994.

  67. Interview with Sanjaya Baru in New Delhi, 2015. This story has also been confirmed via email by Kalyani Shankar.

  68. See Raghavan, ‘At the Cusp of Transformation: The Rajiv Gandhi Years, 1984–89’.

  69. Burns, ‘Unlikely Reformer Coaxes India Towards a Market Economy.

  70. Srinivasan, Diplomatic Channels, 18.

  71. Ibid.

  72. Interview with Dr Srinath Reddy in Delhi, 2015.

  73. Interview with Prabhakar Menon in Delhi, 2015.

  74. Srinivasan, Diplomatic Channels, 20.

  75. Interview with P.V. Rajeshwara Rao in Hyderabad, 2015.

  76. Prasad, Wheels behind the Veil: PMs, CMs and beyond, 132–34.

  77. P.V. Narasimha Rao Selected Speeches 1993–1994, 479.

  78. Ibid., 472.

  79. Interview with Ronen Sen in New Delhi, 2015.

  80. Ibid.

  81. Interview with Dr V.S. Arunachalam in Bangalore, 2015.

  82. Prabhakar Menon, ‘Reminiscences of a Fly on the Wall: Oral History’, Indian Foreign Affairs Journal 8, no. 3, 317–36 (July-September 2013): 330.