Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday welcomed the announcement of honouring late prime minister PV Narasimha Rao with a Bharat Ratna.

Apart from Rao, former PM Chaudhary Charan Singh as well as agriculture scientist M S Swaminathan were also honoured with a Bharat Ratna. “As a distinguished scholar and statesman, Narasimha Rao Garu served India extensively in various capacities. He is equally remembered for the work he did as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Union Minister, and as a Member of Parliament and Legislative Assembly for many years. His visionary leadership was instrumental in making India economically advanced, laying a solid foundation for the country’s prosperity and growth,” he wrote in a post on X.

Modi wrote that Narasimha Rao’s tenure as PM was marked by “significant measures that opened India to global markets, fostering a new era of economic development”.

Delighted to share that our former Prime Minister, Shri PV Narasimha Rao Garu, will be honoured with the Bharat Ratna.

As a distinguished scholar and statesman, Narasimha Rao Garu served India extensively in various capacities. He is equally remembered for the work he did as… pic.twitter.com/lihdk2BzDU

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 9, 2024

Raoe joined politics and held some important portfolios, including Minister of Law and Information (1962-64), Law and Endowments (1964-67), Health and Medicine (1967). He was the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh from 1971 till 1973. He was a Member of Lok Sabha from 1977 till 1984 and was elected to the Lok Sabha from Ramtek in December 1984. He also served as the Minister for External Affairs from 1980 to 1984, Minister of Home Affairs in 1984 and the Minister of Defence from 1984 to 1985. He then assumed charge as Minister of Human Resource Development in 1985 .

After Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination in May 1991, the Congress (I) Party chose Rao as its leader, and he became India’s 10th prime minister after the Lok Sabha elections. He passed away on December 23, 2004.