Pamulaparthi Venkata Narasimha Rao, popularly known as P. V. Narasimha Rao, was an Indian lawyer, statesman and politician who served as the 9th prime minister of India from 1991 to 1996. He was the first person from South India and second person from non-Hindi speaking background to be the prime minister. He is especially known for introducing various liberal reforms to India's economy by recruiting Manmohan Singh as the finance minister to rescue the state from going towards bankruptcy during the economic crisis of 1991. Future prime ministers, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh, continued the economic reform policies pioneered by Rao's government. Rao was also referred to as Chanakya for his ability to steer economic and political legislation through the parliament at a time when he headed a minority government.

The prime minister of India is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen Council of Ministers, despite the president of India being the nominal head of the executive. The prime minister has to be a member of one of the houses of bicameral Parliament of India, alongside heading the respective house. The prime minister and their cabinet are at all times responsible to the Lok Sabha.