Former PM and Congress leader PV Narasimha Rao will be posthumously honoured with a Bharat Ratna– India's highest civilian award.
PV Narasimha Rao became the 9th PM of India and held the post between 1991 to 1996. However, his political journey started much earlier.
Rao was first elected as an Andhra Pradesh MLA in 1957. He also became the Chief Minister of the state in 1971.
He was given crucial portfolios at the Centre under the Congress govt. Rao served as India's Minister of Home Affairs, Defence and External Affairs.
Rao became the PM after the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi in 1991. He was the first Congress PM outside the Nehru-Gandhi family.
Rao, along with Finance Minister Manmohan Singh, introduced the liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation economic reforms.
PM Modi said Rao was a ‘distinguished scholar and statesman.’ Modi credited the ex-PM with laying a solid foundation for the country's prosperity.