Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Saturday called for conferring Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award, on former prime minister, the late P.V. Narasimha Rao.
Paying rich tributes to the late leader on his 93rd birth anniversary, the chief minister said the state cabinet would pass a resolution urging the central government to confer Bharat Ratna.
Governor E. S. L. Narasimhan, the chief minister, leader of opposition K. Jana Reddy and leaders of various parties paid tributes to Narasimha Rao. For the first time, the birth anniversary of the former prime minister was celebrated officially.
Recognising the services of Narasimha Rao to the nation, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government in the newly created state had declared that the birth anniversary will be celebrated as an official function.
The leaders paid floral tributes at PV Gnana Bhoomi on Necklace Road on the banks of Hussain Sagar lake here. They recalled the services of Narasimha Rao, considered as architect of India's economic reforms launched in 1991.
KCR, as the chief minister is popularly known, said a memorial building would be constructed in Hyderabad to showcase Narasimha Rao's life, his literature and speeches.
He also announced that one of the new districts to be created in Telangana will be named after PV, as the late leader was popularly called. He also promised to name a new university in Telangana after him.
Hailing from Karimnagar district of Telangana, Narasimha Rao was prime minister from 1991 to 1996. He died in 2004.
KCR lamented that Narasimha Rao did not get the deserved honour at the national level though he was a genius on many fronts. He urged the Centre to build a befitting memorial in New Delhi.
Governor Narasimhan described the former prime minister as a "perfect human being" and a man with great ideals.
"A leader like P.V. Narasimha Rao is very rare on the Indian political map. He was a modern Chanakya, a multi-faceted personality and a man with his feet firmly on the ground. He was the father of economic reforms in the country," he said.
Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu also paid tributes to Narasimha Rao.
"He was a thinker, a multi-faceted genius, an exceptional economist, who pioneered landmark economic reforms, a man of great integrity, a polyglot, a translator, a distinguished poet and an acclaimed author," said Naidu.
Urban Development and Housing Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu also paid tributes.
"He was the first Congress prime minister of the country from outside Nehru family to have completed five years in office," a statement quoted Venkaiah Naidu as saying.
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