WHO WAS OUR BEST PRIME MINISTER?

In my view Mr. P. V. Narasimha Rao was the best Prime Minister India had ever produced. He may be charged with numerous corruption charges; still he was our best Prime Minister.

The factors that led to my decision are:

His governance. (Economic reforms and more). Without his initiation of economy reforms most of the youngsters would not be earning such huge money at young age. We would not have access to so many facilities: media, entertainment, health, education and many others. When he took over the reins of our country our economy was in very bad shape. He appointed Dr. Manmohan Singh as Finance Minister somewhere from wilderness. Rest is history.

No Prime Minister before him or after him had governed our country that well (Barring Mr. A. B. Vajpayee to an extent). Members of Nehru – Gandhi family became Prime Minister because of charisma, sycophant second line leaders and above all of them foolish belief of our public (I am very sorry to say this but that is the truth). Not because of their hard work or sacrifice.

He never indulged in petty politics. See Mr. Deva Gowda, Mr. V. P. Singh now. They are doing some political stunt now or then to capture some limelight. When his party isolated him Mr. Narasimha Rao never ventured into such cheap politics; he never started a new political party or gathered few old hands. He knew his strengths and weakness. He remained decent till his death. Though this point may sound irrelevant with this topic, but this quality of him gives a hint that he was clever and efficient. He knows what works and what not works for our country and him.

PS: Actually I wanted to present this article after analyzing and collecting some more information that would be more convincing. But what prompted me to write this article this early were Rahul Gandhi’s derogatory comments on Narasimha Rao and his government holding them responsible for Babri Masjid episode. I am writing this article not to analyze about Babri Masjid episode but to ascertain the fact that how great P. V. Narasimha Rao was.

CHANGE ELECTORAL LAWS: REPRESENTATION OF PEOPLE’S ACT

Restrict number of terms to maximum two
In USA and Srilanka head of the government has only two terms; i.e. George Bush can hold his office only for two terms (each term 4 years in US). But in India Mr. Nehru can rule for 17 years; Mrs. Indira Gandhi can rule for 15 years; Mr. Karunanidhi can rule for 14 years (still continuing). Is this real democracy? Remember, in India each term is for five years (one more year than US) for both provincial and national legislature. New ruler would definitely bring with him fresh ideas to govern our country.

Restrict number of constituencies contested by candidates to one
In our country we can see Mrs. Sonia Gandhi contesting in two constituencies and winning both. Then resigning one constituency; then there is re-election for that constituency; the final sufferer is tax paying common man; his hard earned money is wasted in conducting another election. Not only Mrs. Gandhi, we have many leaders across all political parties who had wasted people’s money. Mr. L. K. Advani, Mr. P.V. Narashimma Rao, Ms. Jayalalitha and Mr. Lalu Prasad are some prominent examples in the past.

Prevent Sitting Provincial Legislature member contesting National Legislature or vice versa
We can also see Mr. Mulayam Singh Yadav, a MLA, contesting for parliamentary elections while he was still a Chief Minister of UP. He had won that Parliamentary seat and then resigned it. Then there was re-election for that parliamentary seat; again people’s money was wasted.

Have Retirement age for MPs and MLAs
Only in India we can proud of achievement like oldest person to become Prime Minister. When Mr. Moraji Desai became Prime Minister, he created Guinness record for being oldest person to become Prime Minister. He was over 80 then. Most of the leading MPs and MLAs in India are over 70. Nobody should become MLA or MP after 70. I am not disgracing elderly people. I am only saying that their mind and body won’t be in best possible condition. I am not saying a youngster of 25 should become minister as comically suggested in few movies. A 45 or 55 year old can become an effective minister in a cabinet. But in Indian politics a 55 year-old is a youngster. Elderly politicians can definitely contribute to our country without contesting election. They can guide their party and our country.

Only members elected by People should be Ministers
Members of Rajya Sabha and Legislative council should be barred from becoming a minister in the cabinet. Only members elected by people through Lok Sabha or Legislative Assembly should become ministers. But our Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh himself is not elected by people.