Narasimha Rao knew 17 languages, today we are asking — why learn Hindi: Naidu

Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu Tuesday said former PM P V Narasimha Rao was a scholarly person who knew 17 languages, and took a veiled dig at the charge of Hindi imposition in states like Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, saying, “now we are asking — why should we learn Hindi”?

During a lecture on ‘The life and legacy of former PM Shri PV Narasimha Rao’, Naidu termed him a “great statesman” and “visionary” who changed the future of India. Independent India, he said, is divided into two phases: pre-economic reforms and after it. Recalling the 1991 economic crisis, Naidu credited Rao for the economic reforms and called him “one of the greatest sons of Bharat Mata”. “P V Narasimha Rao was the Deng Xiaoping of India,” he said, likening the opening up of the economy in 1991 to Deng’s transformation of the Chinese economy in 1978. “He changed the future of India and we are enjoying the fruits of his reforms today,” Naidu said.

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“… Rao was heading a minority government then. Yet, because of his political acumen he could build a consensus across parties and ideologies. This was his greatest achievement,” he said.

Naidu said it was because of the 1991 economic reforms that despite there being coalition governments between 1989 and 2014, “the results produced were better than those in the previous decades with majority governments”. He commended ex-PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee for continuing the good work of Rao, recalling the road infra and telecom strides during his government (1998 to 2004).

Naidu pointed to what he saw as India’s four strengths — economic reforms, demographic dividend, first-mover IT advantage and now the strong leadership of PM Narendra Modi. “Under Modi-ji from 2014, there has been further progress. India will become the third largest economy in 2028,” he said.