Atal Bihari Vajpayee: Adored by one and all
It was in May-June '96 the 13 day experiment of BJP came to a halt given its inability to shore up numbers in Lok Sabha (Lower House). I was returning from Tirumala. Having taken Sapthagiri Expresss from Tirupati to Chennai i read about Vajpayee govt putting in papers in a newspaper of the South and paving the way for a new combine to take office. The 13 day access to power period was also witness to one of his cabinet colleagues Sikander Bakht showing distress at the portfolio handed to him.
A moderate face in a hardline party who preferred to walk the middle path in the heydays of Mandal and Mandir agitation which meant to singe the fabric of the country. His affable nature, his modest arguments often replete with poetic posts seem to take sheen away from arguments put by other side. On occasions he was a man of few words and his ability to read the situation better than his counterparts proved his grip in areas like foreign affairs. A filibuster campaign which he least adhered to and his poetic postures were enough to win hearts across country and the world. Whenever he took to mike his extempore speech was all that his audience rooted for craving for more of such creative creations. Some of those occupying the opposition benches were in effusive praise of him when he went on Lahore bus trip and the camaraderie he shared with Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharief was not to be lost.
I came across Vajpayee in Parliament House Annexe (PHA)in 1995 and that was the only time when i saw him in person. Those days entry to PHA was without much hassles.
Not nudged into a corner he went ahead with nuclear tests undeterred by international brouhaha and in no time the sanctions imposed by a host of nations were scaled down. Pakistan too went with nuclear tests and that showed South Asia all but sitting on a powder keg. His oratory skills much of which got noticed in Parliamentary debates showed him a man of true wisdom and character. Taking a strong line against corruption the muddle the telecom ministry found itself in he changed the Minister at the helm. A solitary vote loss in the no confidence motion in 1999 could not keep him down and he was all prepared to start afresh whenever polls happen. In between Kargil happenned and when Nawaz Sharief and US President spoke on the finality of Pak Army withdrawing from Kargil Vajpayee was the first to acknowledge the Kargil conundrum had been fixed. I wrote a piece on Vajpayee in HT titled "It's all about governance."
Less had been said and heard ever since he decided to bid goodbye to active politics in 2005 and had it not been for his failing health he would have provided the much-needed ammunition to campaign strategy of his party which had been lying in tatters. NDA lost in 2004 and when questioned in Kullu in Himachal State on why the party lost so badly, he was blunt to admit that Gujarat riots had cost the party dear. When results were declared for 2004 polls his security personnel pacing up and down the corridors of 7 RCR to find out the modalities to vacate the premises, Vajpayee cut them short by stating Bistar Bandho aur niklo (Pack bags and make room for others). He belonged to that school where giving space to opposition, giving succour to the disadvantage and giving the much-needed ammunition to economy set the stage for a statesman to lead a non cong govt for close to four and a half years (Oct 1999 to May 2004). Having secured best parliamentarian award in 1995 it would be hard for any politico from opposition to bag such award in the polarised times we live. He did not take to foreign travel as leaders from ruling to opposition benches hit on these days and yet having the courage to show that in diplomacy India was second to none. A politico of his genre would be hard to trace these days and a politico of his sentiment would be hard to chase. Vajpayee would remain embedded in our memory for a long time and three cheers for the strong leadership he provided on the political firmament.
It would take more than 100 years for a nation of this size and sensitivity to have a statesman and an orator like him.
It was in May-June '96 the 13 day experiment of BJP came to a halt given its inability to shore up numbers in Lok Sabha (Lower House). I was returning from Tirumala. Having taken Sapthagiri Expresss from Tirupati to Chennai i read about Vajpayee govt putting in papers in a newspaper of the South and paving the way for a new combine to take office. The 13 day access to power period was also witness to one of his cabinet colleagues Sikander Bakht showing distress at the portfolio handed to him.
A moderate face in a hardline party who preferred to walk the middle path in the heydays of Mandal and Mandir agitation which meant to singe the fabric of the country. His affable nature, his modest arguments often replete with poetic posts seem to take sheen away from arguments put by other side. On occasions he was a man of few words and his ability to read the situation better than his counterparts proved his grip in areas like foreign affairs. A filibuster campaign which he least adhered to and his poetic postures were enough to win hearts across country and the world. Whenever he took to mike his extempore speech was all that his audience rooted for craving for more of such creative creations. Some of those occupying the opposition benches were in effusive praise of him when he went on Lahore bus trip and the camaraderie he shared with Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharief was not to be lost.
I came across Vajpayee in Parliament House Annexe (PHA)in 1995 and that was the only time when i saw him in person. Those days entry to PHA was without much hassles.
Not nudged into a corner he went ahead with nuclear tests undeterred by international brouhaha and in no time the sanctions imposed by a host of nations were scaled down. Pakistan too went with nuclear tests and that showed South Asia all but sitting on a powder keg. His oratory skills much of which got noticed in Parliamentary debates showed him a man of true wisdom and character. Taking a strong line against corruption the muddle the telecom ministry found itself in he changed the Minister at the helm. A solitary vote loss in the no confidence motion in 1999 could not keep him down and he was all prepared to start afresh whenever polls happen. In between Kargil happenned and when Nawaz Sharief and US President spoke on the finality of Pak Army withdrawing from Kargil Vajpayee was the first to acknowledge the Kargil conundrum had been fixed. I wrote a piece on Vajpayee in HT titled "It's all about governance."
Less had been said and heard ever since he decided to bid goodbye to active politics in 2005 and had it not been for his failing health he would have provided the much-needed ammunition to campaign strategy of his party which had been lying in tatters. NDA lost in 2004 and when questioned in Kullu in Himachal State on why the party lost so badly, he was blunt to admit that Gujarat riots had cost the party dear. When results were declared for 2004 polls his security personnel pacing up and down the corridors of 7 RCR to find out the modalities to vacate the premises, Vajpayee cut them short by stating Bistar Bandho aur niklo (Pack bags and make room for others). He belonged to that school where giving space to opposition, giving succour to the disadvantage and giving the much-needed ammunition to economy set the stage for a statesman to lead a non cong govt for close to four and a half years (Oct 1999 to May 2004). Having secured best parliamentarian award in 1995 it would be hard for any politico from opposition to bag such award in the polarised times we live. He did not take to foreign travel as leaders from ruling to opposition benches hit on these days and yet having the courage to show that in diplomacy India was second to none. A politico of his genre would be hard to trace these days and a politico of his sentiment would be hard to chase. Vajpayee would remain embedded in our memory for a long time and three cheers for the strong leadership he provided on the political firmament.
It would take more than 100 years for a nation of this size and sensitivity to have a statesman and an orator like him.
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