It is about 2004. It was winter season and cold relations within the Congress came out in the open. Former Prime Minister and Congress leader PV Narasimha Rao had passed away. A debate broke out regarding his funeral. The party high command did not want to perform his last rites in Delhi. The reason for this was differences between Rao and Gandhi family.
Congress leader Ahmed Patel turned to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s then media adviser Sanjay Baru and said, “You know the family. [पीवी नरसिम्हा राव का] The mortal remains should be taken to Hyderabad. Can you convince him?” It was December 23 and both Prime Minister Singh and Baru had gone to the Delhi residence of former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao to pay homage to him.
PV Narasimha Rao was the Prime Minister of India between 1991 and 1996. Several incidents occurred after his death, which exposed deep differences between Rao and the Gandhi-Nehru family, the main force behind the Congress. Narasimha Rao’s family and some critics claimed that it was a result of Sonia Gandhi’s decision that the Congress refused to perform his last rites in Delhi.
Not only were Rao’s family forced to perform the last rites in Hyderabad instead of New Delhi against their wishes, but his body was also not allowed entry into the Congress headquarters at 24 Akbar Road, where party workers could pay homage. .
This chapter of India’s post-independence history brought back memories after the recent controversy over the funeral of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at Nigambodh Ghat in Delhi. Congress had demanded that the last rites be performed at Rajghat. A few days later, former President Pranab Mukherjee was given a memorial site in Delhi along with other former Indian heads of state and government.
Interestingly, these developments come at a time when the Congress is moving its operations out of 24 Akbar Road, which was its headquarters for decades and where PV Narasimha Rao’s mortal remains were once denied entry. .
Before knowing how Rao’s hearse was stopped from entering 24 Akbar Road, it is pertinent to note that the former Prime Minister’s tenure began with a minority Congress government and ended with a majority. Why did the party led by Sonia Gandhi ignore it?
Babri Masjid demolition soured Rao-Sonia relations
There was deep tension between PV Narasimha Rao and the Gandhi-Nehru family, this is no secret. During his tenure as Prime Minister, Rao faced opposition from within the Congress Party, particularly from loyalists of Sonia Gandhi and her family. The handling of the Babri Masjid issue was a major point of contention. The mosque was demolished in 1992, when Narasimha Rao was the Prime Minister.
Under Narasimha Rao’s leadership, the Congress won 140 Lok Sabha seats in the 1996 elections, yet he was blamed for the party’s decline and was later humiliated by being denied a party ticket in 1998. This was when Sonia Gandhi became the Congress President. Rao was so ignored within the party that he was seen as an outsider by the Sonia-led faction. The sad thing is that even after Rao’s death, hostility was shown towards him.
Sanjay Baru, describing the scene at Rao’s residence in his 2014 book, The Accidental Prime Minister, wrote, “Narasimha Rao’s children wanted the former prime minister to be cremated in Delhi like other Congress prime ministers… as soon as Prime Minister [मनमोहन सिंह] Entering the house, Ahmed Patel pulled me aside. Patel wanted me to convince Narasimha Rao’s sons, Ranga and Prabhakar, and his daughter Vani to take their father’s body to Hyderabad for the last rites.” Party president Sonia Gandhi was also present.
Delhi already has memorials in honor of former Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi at their cremation sites near Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial on the banks of the Yamuna. Even non-Congress Prime Minister Charan Singh and MP Sanjay Gandhi, who were not even ministers, had their memorials built in this area. Therefore, the desire of Rao’s family that the last rites be held in Delhi and a memorial be built in the national capital was not unreasonable.
Interestingly, in December 2004, both the Center and Rao’s home state Andhra Pradesh had Congress governments. Sanjay Baru said, “I thought about Patel’s request for a few minutes and felt that it would not be appropriate for me to give this message to the family.”
How Ahmed Patel, Ghulam Nabi Azad, YSR convinced Rao’s family to attend last rites in Hyderabad
Journalist and author Vinay Sitapati writes in his 2016 book, Half-Lion: How PV Narasimha Rao Transformed India, “Home Minister Shivraj Patil suggested to Rao’s youngest son Prabhakar that ‘the body be cremated in Hyderabad. But the family gave priority to Delhi. After all, Rao was the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh more than thirty years ago and has since served as Congress General Secretary and finally as Prime Minister. Had done – All this happened in Delhi itself, Shivraj Patil, who is usually polite, said, ‘No one will come.’
After Patel and Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad failed to convince Rao’s family, the job of convincing was entrusted to another Congress leader, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy, who was believed to be on good terms with Rao. Had no relation.
Andhra CM Reddy assured Rao’s family over telephone, “I just heard about it… I am near Anantapur (then southern Andhra Pradesh, now Telangana), and I will reach Delhi by this evening. My point Believe us. [हैदराबाद में] Will perform grand funeral.”
Sitapati’s book quotes Rao’s daughter Vani Devi as saying, “YSR played an important role in convincing the family to bring the body to Hyderabad.”
After this, Narasimha Rao’s family approached Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who had worked closely with the former Prime Minister as Finance Minister. Sitapati said, “When [गृह मंत्री] When Shivraj Patil told about the demand for a memorial in Delhi, Manmohan replied, ‘No problem, we will do it.’
Rao’s son Prabhakar later recalled, “We still felt that Sonia ji did not want to perform her father’s last rites in Delhi. [दिल्ली में] Didn’t want a memorial… She didn’t want to be seen as an all India leader… [लेकिन] There was pressure and we agreed.”
Sanjay Baru said, “I clearly felt that Sonia Gandhi did not want Rao’s memorial anywhere in Delhi.” Finally, due to increasing pressure from Congress leaders close to Sonia Gandhi and a verbal assurance by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to build a memorial in Delhi, PV Narasimha Rao’s family reluctantly agreed to perform his last rites in Hyderabad.
Congress refuses to allow Narasimha Rao’s body to enter 24 Akbar Road
The next day, on December 24, 2004, Rao’s tricolor-draped body was to be taken to the Delhi airport in a decorated army truck. On the way, the body, accompanied by an entourage of leaders from across the political spectrum, was to stop at 24 Akbar Road, the Congress party headquarters, so that workers could pay their last respects.
For decades, Rao was a regular in office, serving as a functionary, a minister, a chief minister and eventually prime minister.
Author and columnist Neerja Chaudhary, in her 2023 book How Prime Ministers Decide, wrote, “The flower-bedecked funeral procession was not allowed to enter 24 Akbar Road so that his party colleagues could pay their last respects to the man who had ruled the Congress for half a century.” Had served.” Sitapati said the gate was completely closed, adding, “Many senior Congressmen were present there, but hardly any cadre had come. No slogans were raised, just death-like silence. The car stopped on the footpath outside, because Sonia Gandhi and others came out to pay their respects.”
The family was shocked
A senior Congressman told a friend of Rao that on such occasions “the gate does not open.” However, the gates for Madhavrao Scindia’s mortal remains were opened only a few years ago. Sitapati quoted a Congress eyewitness as saying, “We expected the gate to be opened… but no order came. Only a person could have given that order. He did not give the order.”
After a tense wait of half an hour, the procession moved towards the airport, where the body was placed in an Antonov aircraft of the Indian Air Force. The plane landed at Hyderabad airport in the evening, where Rao was cremated the next day.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh along with External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh flew to Hyderabad to attend Rao’s funeral, as YSR kept his promise of “a grand funeral”. The Narendra Modi-led central government honored Rao with the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honour, in 2024.
In 2015, 10 years after his death, the Modi government built a memorial for Rao at Ekta Sthal in New Delhi. It is now part of the National Memorial, an integrated site for memorials to former Presidents, Prime Ministers and other prominent dignitaries. The message on the plaque begins, “Known as the learned Prime Minister of India, Shri P.V. Narasimha Rao…”
