Ahluwalia Favors
PV
Narasimha Rao’s Reform Legacy
As ‘Amar Chitra Katha’ Style
for Future Generations
Vanam Jwala Narasimha Rao
In his PV Narasimha Rao Memorial Lecture delivered in
Hyderabad on December 31, 2025, Dr Montek Singh Ahluwalia reflected on PV’s
enduring legacy, not merely as a reformer of the past, but as a statesman whose
approach to leadership, economic management, and political courage remains
deeply relevant for India’s future. He emphasized that PV’s greatness lay not
in isolated decisions but in his ability to combine political realism with
intellectual openness at a moment of national vulnerability.
Dr Ahluwalia began by recalling the extraordinary
circumstances of the 1991 balance-of-payments crisis, and how PV’s leadership
during that period demonstrated calm resolve rather than panic. He highlighted
that the economic reforms were not an abstract ideological shift but a
practical response to crisis, undertaken with full awareness of political
risks. In this context, he drew attention to PV’s decisive choice of Dr
Manmohan Singh as Finance Minister, noting that this partnership was
foundational to India’s reform trajectory.
Dr Ahluwalia referred to the ‘PV–Manmohan Combination’
as a rare and powerful mix, suggesting that India’s future leadership would
require a similar blend, a ‘PV–Manmohan Mix’ combining political
courage, intellectual depth, administrative discipline, and ethical
seriousness. According to Dr Ahluwalia, sustaining and advancing PV legacy
would demand leaders who understand both the compulsions of politics and the rigor
of sound economics, rather than privileging one at the cost of the other.
Reflecting on the human and political pressures of the
reform period, Dr Ahluwalia recalled the Harshad Mehta episode and the
turbulence it caused in financial markets and public discourse. He referred to
this episode as a reminder of how fragile confidence was during the early
reform years and how leadership had to navigate not only economic uncertainty
but also political and institutional shock. The episode, he noted, underscored
the importance of strengthening financial oversight and institutional credibility
alongside liberalization.
In one of the most personal and revealing segments of
the lecture, Dr Ahluwalia referred to the moment when Dr Manmohan Singh offered
his resignation as Finance Minister and reportedly stopped attending office for
two days, following political attacks linked to the market crisis. He
emphasized that PV’s intervention at that moment was decisive, persuading Dr
Singh to continue, thereby preserving reform momentum at a critical juncture.
This episode, Ahluwalia suggested, exemplified PV’s
understanding of leadership, protecting capable individuals in times of adversity,
and insulating economic decision-making from short-term political pressures. Dr
Ahluwalia also highlighted Rao’s instinct for institution-building and federal
balance, observing that many reforms succeeded because they were implemented
with sensitivity to India’s federal structure.
He stressed that carrying forward PV Narasimha Rao’s
reform legacy requires a conscious strengthening of cooperative federalism. He
observed that economic transformation in India cannot be driven by the Centre
alone and that effective coordination and trust between the Union and the
States are essential for sustaining reforms. He noted that Rao intuitively
understood this balance and governed with respect for India’s federal
diversity, a lesson that remains central to India’s future economic progress.
Turning to the question of legacy transmission, Dr
Ahluwalia made a distinctive suggestion that PV Narasimha Rao’s life and reform
journey should be presented to younger generations in an accessible narrative
form, explicitly referring to the ‘Amar Chitra Katha’ Model. He argued
that Rao’s contributions, particularly the story of reforms, deserve to be
taught not merely as dry policy history but as a compelling national story of
courage, intellect, and quiet determination. Such inclusion in educational curricula,
he felt, would help correct historical neglect and inspire future generations
to appreciate the complexity of nation-building.
Throughout the lecture, Dr Ahluwalia repeatedly
returned to the theme that economic reform is not a one-time event but a
continuous process, shaped by leadership quality, institutional strength, and
political maturity. He emphasized that PV’s true legacy lies in demonstrating
how difficult decisions can be taken within a democratic framework, without
grandstanding or populism.
In fact, a day before I was with him in a small
gathering of well-wishers, purely as an informal circle of Senior Journalists,
Highly Respected Publisher, Advocate of High Repute, Vice-Chancellor,
Physician, former Rajya Sabha Member, and a Social-Political Activist cum Technocrat
among others, who had come not for ceremony but for conversation. Dr Montek
Singh Ahluwalia, as someone who had watched governments rise and fall, policies
celebrated and diluted, and ideals strained by power, responded to a wide range
of questions.
Dr Montek Singh Ahluwalia born in 1943, is a globally
recognized economist shaped by institutions rather than ideologies. He served
as Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission with Cabinet rank, worked at the
International Monetary Fund (IMF), an international financial institution, and
a specialized agency of the United Nations, and advised governments across
political divides. What distinguishes him is not merely his resume, but his
temperament: a rare blend of analytical clarity and civil restraint. He listens
first, speaks later, and when he does, it is without performance. The clarity
is unparalleled.
When I presented my book Democracy and Governance
through Lens and Blurred Glasses: A Journey into Distorted Visions of
Modern-Day Politics, he did not leaf through the book casually, but
enquired whether there is any reference to PV Narasimha Rao in it. The episode
involving PV while he was Chief Minister AP and his Chief Secretary Valluri
Kameswara Rao, an eminent ICS officer, attracted his attention, as an example
of the moral courage of a role-model civil servant and the humility of a Chief
Minister of that era.
During the conversation, Dr Montek recalled Atal
Bihari Vajpayee’s civilizational grace that transcended party lines, Rajiv
Gandhi sending Vajpayee abroad for medical treatment, his suggestion to
Vajpayee to rename the Planning Commission which Vajpayee politely declined
etc. He said that, little contemporary history has been written after Indira
Gandhi. Rajiv Gandhi attempted to understand the emerging middle class as a new
social force. Responding to changing the name of MGNREGA as VB–G RAM G, he remembered
Sharad Yadav, and spoke of a time when rural employment was treated as a moral
responsibility.
Dr Ahluwalia warned that communal assertiveness, apart
from being morally wrong, is economically unwise. Speaking of the Ramayana he
said that, it is a civilisation of many telling, with a hundred Ramayanas, each
reflecting the society that told it. This pluralism, he implied, was India’s
real inheritance. Being candid about liberalization, he made it clear that, what
we see today, is not what PV envisioned. Saying that, institutions must remain
central, Dr Ahluwalia felt that, India needs strong, independent, and uncaptured
regulators in every field. He cited TN Seshan’s uncompromising tenure at the
Election Commission as an example of institutional courage.
Coalition governments, despite instability, at least
introduced checks and balances, a form of political dharma, said Dr Montek. On
the current political leadership, Dr Montek’s assessment was measured. He noted
that one significant shift had been the breaking of an old elite monopoly in
politics. That opening question about PV to me, by Dr Ahluwalia, was not simply
about a reference in a book, but about whether democracy is still understood as
a delicate balance of courage, humility, and institutional respect. It
reaffirmed that democracy lives not in proclamations, but in quiet moments when
power pauses to listen, and that these moments, if remembered, still have the
capacity to guide.
Dr Ahluwalia concluding PV Memorial Lecture, urged,
remembering PV should go beyond ceremonial homage. He said that, the real
tribute lies in nurturing leadership that reflects PV’s temperament, intellectually
open, politically pragmatic, institutionally respectful, and morally anchored, and
in ensuring that the reform spirit he ignited continues to evolve in response
to India’s changing challenges. In small gathering or Memorial Lecture, Dr
Ahluwalia’s reverence to PV is unparalleled.
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