Chanakya and Machiavelli not only advocated wicked means to achieve the common good, they also felt that the ruler should not attempt those ‘good’ policies that endangered his stability. They would have advised Rao to abandon liberalization—unpopular with party and Parliament—far earlier than he actually did. That P.V. Narasimha Rao was still able to cause (there is no other word for it) the most sweeping economic advance in Indian history is proof of his political genius, of course. It is also a testament to his idealism.
