NEW DELHI: P V Narasimha Rao senior party parliamentary board member and former foreign minister was Wednesday elected president of the Congress-I ending the weeklong uncertainty over the choice of a successor to Rajiv Gandhi.
Rao in his acceptance speech renewed the Congress-I pledge to provide a strong and stable government and declared that no other party least of all the right wing Bharatiya Janata Party was in a position to do so.
Both Rao and the party working committee which elected him unanimously placed on record appreciation of Sonia Gandhi for the manner in which she had responded to the request for taking over the reins of the party.
The working committee said the party looked forward to constant guidance from Sonia Gandhi Italian-born widow of the slain Congress (I) president Rajiv Gandhi so that party men might discharge their duty in a manner that our beloved leader Rajiv Gandhi would have liked us to.
AICC-I spokesman Pranab Mukherjee said the election of Rao was ‘provisional’ and had to be ratified by the all India Congress (I) Committee (AICC-I) in due course.
Rao was mobbed by party enthusiasts shouting Narasimha Rao Zindabad (long live Narsimha Rao).
In his acceptance statement Rao said the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi had presented the party an hour both of the deepest gloom and the greatest challenge. History once again had trust upon it the responsibility to keep India and Indians together he asserted.
Rao claimed that only his party could province a strong and stable government that would protect India’s unity and nourish its vision of the future.
No other party least of all the BJP trained as it is by communalism was in a position to give such a government he insisted. And he added the national front simply did not have the minimum number of credible candidates to make any sensible claim.
Rao told newsperson that no one was being projected as party candidate for prime minister ship. Nor would there be a shadow cabinet.
The Congress-I in parliament would elect its leader after the elections he said.
Spokesman Mukherjee said the Congress-I was not banking on the sympathy vote in the second and third rounds of the parliamentary elections it expected people to give a mature verdict for the unity and integrity of the country.
Asked if Sonia Gandhi would seek election from Amethi Mukherjee said: Let the seat be first declared vacant Rajiv Gandhi contested from Amethi where the poll was held the day before his assassination. The polled votes will be counted only after the parliamentary elections are completed in all its three rounds.
It took just 20 minutes for the working committee to elect Rao senior party leader Arjun Singh told newspersons who asked whether there had been any hitch which was the reason for the committee meeting lasting two hours.
Party general secretary H K L Bhagat presided over the congress working committee meeting. Arjun Singh who proposed Rao for president ship expressed the hope the choice would have the support of Sonia Gandhi who had declined to succeed her husband.
Mr Rao said in his acceptance statement that he would do his best to overcome the deepest gloom and greatest challenge before the party and appealed to every member of the congress to rise above himself to serve the country.
Mr.Arjun Singh proposed the name of Mr Narasimha Rao which was seconded by Mr. Ghulam Nabi Azad and Mr Jagannath Pahadia according to the party spokesman Mr Pranab Mukherjee.
He asked party men to get on with the job together and strive to realize Rajiv Gandhi’s dreams of a united India and welfare of the downtrodden.
He disclosed that only the Congress-I could provide a strong and stable government that would protect the unity of India and nourish its vision of future
Rao began his political career as a Congress activist in the freedom In 1957 from Manthani constituency in Karim nagar district.
In the two decades that he served In the state legislature he held a variety of ministerial posts in-lading a two-year tenure as chief minister from 1971 to 1973.
In 1977 Rao was one of the few Congress (I) stalwarts to withstand he Janata wave and enter the Lok Sabha. He was a general secretary of the all India congress committee in 1975-76.
Rao has held several important ministerial positions including defence external affairs home and human resource development
Rao an accomplished linguist fluent in several languages became the minister of external affairs in Mrs. Indira Gandhi’s cabinet after the Congress (I) swept back to power in the 1980 midterm elections.
Rao was shifted to the ministry of home affairs in July 1984 a month after the Operation Bluestar was conducted to flush out militants from the holy Sikh shrine in Amritsar (Punjab).
He held this post till Rajiv Gandhi formed his cabinet after winning a landslide victory in the eighth Lok Sabha polls in December 1984 following the assassination of Indira Gandhi in October.
He first served as the union minister for defence in the Rajiv Gandhi cabinet before taking over the human resources development portfolio
He was shifted to the external affairs ministry in June 1988 and held the post until the Congress (I) was voted out of power in November 1989
The new Congress (I) president is a man of varied interests. He is a holder of the Sahityaratna degree in Hindi literature and is associated with the Dakshin Bharat Hindi Parchar Sabha an organization promoting Hindi i in southern India
Rao has written fiction in various Indian languages including Hindi Marathi and Telugu apart from translating books into Telugu and Hindi. He has also been the chairman of the Telugu academy.
Among the noted publications to his credit are Sahasra Phan Hindi translation of Shri Vishwanath Satyanarayanna famous Telugu novel Veyyi Padagulu and Abala Jeevitham Telugu translation of the famous Marathi novel “Pan lakshant Kon Gheto.
Among the noted publications to his credit are Sahasra Phan Hindi translation of Shri Vilshwanatha Satyanarayana’s famous Telugu novel Veyyi Padagulu and Abala Jeevitham Telugu translation of the famous Marathi novel Pan Lakshat Kon Gheto.
Rao is a widely-travelled man and has lectured at various universities in the United States and Germany on political affairs and related matters.
Rao recently had a successful heart bypass surgery at Houston (USA).
Aman of simple habits Rao is a widower with three sons and five daughters.
Article extracted from this publication >> June 7, 1991
