P. V. Narasimha Rao

P. V. Narasimha Rao (Pamulaparthi Venkata Narasimha Rao; Telugu: పాములపర్తి వెంకట నరసింహారావు; * 28. June 1921 in Karimnagar, Andhra Pradesh; † 23 December 2004 in Delhi) was an Indian politician and the ninth Prime Minister of the Republic of India.

Rao studied law in Hyderabad. His political rise began in 1962 in the regional government of Andhra Pradesh, he entered the political arena at the national level. He was the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh from 1971 to 1973. With the support of Indira Gandhi, he became the General Secretary of the Congress Party and under her government like that of her son, Rajiv Gandhi, P. V. Narasimha Rao served in various portfolios (Home, Defence and Education). In 1977, he won a mandate in the Indian Parliament for the first time and finally became India's Foreign Minister in 1980.

After Rajiv Gandhi's assassination and the 1991 elections, in which the Congress Party probably benefited from a certain sympathy bonus, Rao was given the task of forming a government, which he then headed for five years.

At the beginning of the Rao government, India was struggling with a major shortage of foreign reserves and a stagnant economy. Rao took the opportunity to implement long-term economic reforms. He was supported in this by his very capable finance minister and later prime minister, Manmohan Singh. These reforms led to economic growth that reached between 5 and 8 percent annually and lasted for almost a decade.

Foreign investors, previously treated with great suspicion in India, were encouraged to invest foreign currency in India. Towards the end, however, corruption scandals rocked his government. He was the first head of government in India to be convicted of bribery in a criminal case and was subsequently overthrown in 1996.

In 2004, Narasimha Rao died of a heart attack at the age of 83.