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| "Atal
Bihari is today's Syama Prasad" -
L. K. Advani
"He is best suited to become PM" -
Nani Palkhivala
Ability to reach out to the root"
"Swayamsevak
with a poet's heart"
- Rajendrasinhaji -
Khushwant Singh
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Padma Sachdev
"Man with Churchillian blend " -
Jagat Mehta
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Pt. Bhimsen Joshi
-
Sudhir Phadke
"Revered in the world of art & culture" -
Pt. Birju Maharaj
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Raj Babbar
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Nana Patekar
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Asha Bhosle
From Atalji's 'Ekyavan Kavitayein'(english translations of some of his poems) Why Atalji matters? Anand
Agashe
What makes Shri Atal
Bihari Vajpayee hold a unique posi tion in our public life today ?
His longevity as a politician ? The Padmavibhushan that decorates him ? His being a member of the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha since 1957 ? The Best Parliamentary Award that he was honoured with two years ago ? His legendary oratory skill ? The poet's heart that rests in him ? His gentlemanly conduct ? ..... Well, obviously these are definitely some of the reasons that have made him one of the most respected figures of our times. They do explain partly why he is revered by his ideological followers and loved by all. But isn't there something more ? Poiticians with a marathon record aren't such a rare breed. We have had enough of them. And whereas many of them are treated with disinterest, some are clearly despised. The list of Padma awardees also runs long. But official recognition, even of that stature, is not necessarily accompanied by recognition by the people at large. Being a parliamentarian for four decades is indeed commendable. Being chosen to be in the elite list of Best Parliamentarians is even more so. No doubt, such men are looked at in awe. But doesn't that reaction invariably pre-empt a feeling of affection ? On the other hand, oratory skill and poetic proficiency may take a person close to people's heart, but affection surely doesn't mean intellectual appeal as well ! Gentlemen ? Well, they are adored by people. But do they 'matter' in public life ? For the people of India, Shri Vajpayee is unique not because he combines all these attributes but because he is relevant to their lives. If he wasn't, his fate would have been no different from that of those who are showered with platitudes, and yet shunted to the sidelines. During the fifty-odd years of his public life, Shri Vajpayee has shown that one does not have to resort to crass populism in order to become popular. He has shown that one doesn't have to indulge in gimmicks to stay in limelight. His track record is proof enough that integrity need not be sacrificed at the altar of politics. He has had his highs and lows. But he has taken them all with a degree of equanimity that we Indians are not used to. He has never shunned positions of responsibility but he never hankered after those positions, either. The sincerity of his words and deeds has convinced everyone that the rich personal attributes that adorn Atalji's personality are not an end in themselves. They have a purpose - safeguarding national interest. Atalji is a dreamer. But he is firmly rooted in the reality. Atalji has unswerving faith in his own political ideology. But he also has a healthy - and palpable - respect for others. Thanks to a potent combination of political acumen and personal charm, he can carry people of different hues along, as he has shown in the past. He is as aware of the intricacies of the nation's present-day problems as of the challenges of the future. He has a vision of India. And he possesses the will to turn that into reality..... "Minorities
have faith in you" The flame of patriotism that has burned within you from your college days and your rise to the highest position in the country has inspired many of our youth. I have long admired your oratory which gives voice to the broad humanism guiding you in public life. " (From his letter to Shri Vajpayee) Transparent
integrity is his greatest asset Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee is a front ranking parliamentarian with a style that is unique in terms of his presentation of an issue, use of his command over language to great effect and a sincerity of purpose which he brings to whatever he says. As a debater he is in the top class and therefore his repartees are a real treat. But parliament is also a place where you raise issues and pursue them both inside it and outside as well. That was, in other words, the kind of work that Madhu Limaye or Jyotirmoy Basu and for that matter even Phiroz Gandhi carried out in their parliamentary careers. Unlike them, Mr Vajpayee did not take to the path of using the parliament to expose major acts of misgovernance by those in power or by the rich or by a collusion of the two. But, this does not diminish his status as an outstanding parliamentarian, which is built on his talents as a debater. It is said by many that he is the most acceptable leader in all the parties. I do not think that the Marxists will accept him and I also do not think that the Congress party establishment is accepting him. This, of course, may be attributed to the fact the he belongs to the BJP and has an ideological background which is not acceptable to the Left and the Congress. But this image of general acceptability which he has acquired both inside and outside the House has a lot to do with his personal integrity and his live contact with the people through public meetings. He has always steered clear of any kind of unseemly controversy.His performance as the minister of external affairs in the Morarji Desai government was enough proof that he was a man who placed the interest of the country above the ideological positions of his party. But essentially his transparent integrity is his greatest asset.
I listen carefully to his speeches. These speeches reflect both, his scholarship and his patriotic concerns. (As told to Milind Kokje) Mr George Fernandes is president of the Samata Party.
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The primary challenge before us is the upliftment of the poor. Despite possessing adequate natural resources, the majority of our countrymen remain poor. They are deprived of opportunity and all avenues of growth. I know their conditions, I have lived it..... My Government will give primacy to enacting, in cooperation with other political parties, legislation to secure 33% reservation for women in state Assemblies and in the Lok Sabha. My Government will not misuse Article 356 of the Constitution to achieve political ends. Immediate steps will be taken to restore the balance of resources in favour of the States. Steps will also be taken, very speedily, to convene and activate the Inter-State Council to settle inter-State and Centre-State Disputes. My Government will very quickly assess deficiencies in the physical infrastructure, especially those that are hampering the growth of the economy and of exports.... The new Government is committed to quick enactment of comprehensive electoral reforms, keeping in mind the Goswami Committee report as well as the recent judgement of the Supreme Court.... Many of the new things I have said...may not carry conviction because previous Governments have had a dismal record in this regard. Some of them may even appear to be dreams, in the light of the past record of unkept promises. Despite that, I pledge that we will carry out the assurances that we give today. Hasn't somebody said, if you don't dream, how will dreams come true. Atal
Bihari is today's Syama Prasad Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee entered Parliament for the first time in 1957, after the second general elections. Addressing party MPs recently at a training camp organised for them at Jhinjholi in Haryana, Atalji quipped that elections was for him a three-in-one experience! The Jana Sangh had set up Shri Vajpayee from three different constituencies of Uttar Pradesh from Mathura, from Lucknow and from Balrampur. In Lucknow, Atalji recalled, he lost the battle. In Mathura, he not only lost, he forfeited his deposit as well. But in Balrampur, he scored a single triumph, and became leader of the four-member Jana Sangh team in the Lok Sabha. I do not know what precisely prompted the party leadership at that time to make Atalji contest from three seats. But looking back, I guess it was Deendayalji's judgement that was responsible for the decision. Evidently, Deendayalji was keen that Vajpayee must reach the Lok Sabha, even if that meant trying his luck in three places. Panditji clearly perceived that if anyone in the party could ever fill the gaping void left behind in the fledgling party by the martyrdom of Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerji, it was the 31-year old youth, gifted with wisdom and maturity far beyond his age.Surveying the political scene in the country forty years later, and the remarkably unique place Vajpayee has come to occupy in national politics, one cannot but be impressed by Deendayalji's foresight. Atal Bihari is without doubt the Syama Prasad of today. And, I dare say, Atal Bihari means much more to the India of the ninetees than Syama Prasad did to the India of fifties. When I say this I am not at all comparing the two personalities in question. I am only contrasting the circumstances in which the two were functioning. Dr. Mookerjee was an outstanding educationist. In Parliament and in the politics of his days he was reckoned a titan. But there were several other stalwarts also at the time, both in the Congress as well as in other parties. Today's politics, on the other hand, abounds with pygmies. Atalji, therefore, towers above contemporary political leaders like a colossus. No wonder, the hopes and expectations that the people have come to have in him are enormous. Every opinion poll conducted in the country during the past one year or so amply bears out this fact. My own proximity to Atalji also dates from 1957. Until 1957, my field of activity was Rajasthan. But in 1957 after Atalji's election to the Lok Sabha, party general secretary Shri Deendayal Upadhyaya had me shifted to Delhi. I was to set up the Jana Sangh's parliamentary office and assist the MPs in their work. Ever since, we two have been working closely in the party, and later, when I was elected to Rajya Sabha, also in Parliament. Today in the country, Atalji has millions of admirers. Most of them may have become his fans because of his matchless oratory. However, knowing him from very close quarters, I hold that his superb eloquence and masterly command over language only add to his innate qualities of leadership which essentially stem from his deep concern for the country and its people. An earnest commitment to egalitarianism and a poet's natural empathy with the weak and the neglected impart to his individuality qualities that endear him to one and all including those who disagree with the ideology that has motivated him all his life. For the greater part of his political career, Atalji has been on the opposition benches. Most politicians who remain in the opposition for prolonged periods tend to become cynical criticsand chronic castigators. Negativism often becomes part of their psyche. One reason why Atalji has succeeded in developing a universal supra-party appeal is that he is singularly free from any such negativism. I have heard him make trenchant attacks on the treasury benches. But his criticism is rarely personal, and even when it is, there is no malice in it. His witty and satirical barbs may make the victim squirm with discomfort, but they do not cause wounds and so leave no scars behind. The final upshot is invariably constructive.Shri Vajpayee's RSS links have been subject matter of considerable comment, both in the media as well as outside. I well remember the rumpus raised by some members of the Janata Party when Prime Minister Shri Morarji Desai proposed to entrust Atalji with the External Affairs portfolio. After all, he is an RSS man, these members protested; our relations with Pakistan would be irretrievably soured, they cautioned Shri Desai. Disregarding their unslought of counsel Shri Desai made Atalji Foreign Minister in his government.
Students of India-Pakistan relations now readily concede that the period 1977-79, namely the period when Vajpayee was the External Affairs Minister was the best the two countries have ever experienced since independence. I have heard the Pakistan Prime Minister Shri Nawaz Sharif himself testify to this. This was in 1991 when Shri Sharif (at that time also he was Prime Minister) came to New Delhi to participate in Shri Rajiv Gandhi's funeral. At his invitation Shri Vajpayee and I called on him at his Ashok Hotel suite. And the first remark that he made after he greeted us was: "Mr. Vajpayee, I have not met you before. But I have no hesitation saying that Pakistan's relations with India have never been as warm and cordial as they were when you were your country's Foreign Minster." During Vajpayeeji's tenure there may not have been a hotline between Desai and Zia. But there weren't these unending bomb-blasts either that the country is having to suffer during the past nineteen months. Most media comments about Vajpayee qua RSS are ill-informed. Quite a few are motivated. For a section of the press BJP-baiting has become a chronic malady.In 1980, the Janata Party raised the "dual-membership" issue, and sought to force us (those who had come to the party from the Jana Sangh) to disown the RSS. Their mistaken assumption was that Atalji may not resist the move.
At the meeting of the Janata Parliamentary Board where this matter was discussed, Shri Vajpayee was literally furious. "We've come to the Janata Party only three years back. Our association with the RSS is since our childhood! And you want us to snap our ties with the RSS! Do you understand what you are saying?" Shri Vajpayee's commitment to the RSS and its ideology of cultural nationalism has always been unswerving. But he is also conscious of the fact, and rightly so, that in a country as vast and variegated as ours, representative democracy warrants that ideology should provide idealism and a value-base to the party, and a direction for policy-formulation; it should not become a strait-jacket constraint on political and governmental decision. Along with the rest of my countrymen I offer my hearty greetings to Atalji on his birth anniversary. The nation is eagerly looking forward to his assuming the reins of office in March next and leading India into the twenty first century on a crest of hope and confidence. (Mr L. K. Advani is the BJP President) He
is best suited to become PM
At first when Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the Foreign Minister asked me to go as the Ambassador to the USA, I declined with great regret saying that my heart was in India and I would like to do whatever I could for my own people. Afterwards Shri Morarji Desai persuaded me to accept Atalji's offer telling me that it was totally wrong on my part to say `no' when the country needed my services. He reminded me that it was not for me to choose how to serve the country but for the men in power. I saw the force of Shri Morarji's advice and changed my mind. I recall vividly my first meeting with Atalji. Though he was the Foreign Minister and wanted me to accept the Ambassadorship in the USA. he was humble enough to come to my simple home just to make that request. That humility impressed me tremendously and I said to myself that I could serve under this man who had no false notions of his own dignity and his own importance. I formed the most favourable impression of Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee. To me it was clear that he is the person best suited to be the Prime Minister of India. I still think that India would reach the highest degree of development under Atalji. I think he is totally free from any bias or communalism of any sort. I am convinced that our relations with Pakistan were most cordial when Atalji was the Prime Minister. Whenever I met Atalji I had no problem being on the same wavelength. He is a very humble man and never puts on airs. I found it very easy to get on with an unassuming man like him. Whenever me met we talked not of politics as understood in our day-to-day affairs, but about the future of the country and what was the best way to revive the past glory of India. I have met him a few times after I came back from the USA, sometimes on the plane, and I have always found it a very enriching experience to meet Atalji anywhere. I remember vividly that when the Babri Masjid was demolished he expressed his own sorrow that the Hindu community had perpetrated such an act. Such a man is eminently needed to guide the destiny of India at this juncture. I remember one conversation which I had with Atalji. I met him in Washington and I told him how distressed I was that an employee of the Government of India was treated unjustly and unfairly by the government of our country. I remonstrated with him and told him that such injustice shocked me to the bone. He corrected me and said that I should not react in that fashion. "After all, I am here today and will not be there tomorrow; but the government must go on. As a man who was a minister today and who may not be there tomorrow, he had to take a broad view and put up with any passing injustice which may be done to certain individuals." I remember the day when we asked Atalji to speak to an audience in Washington. He is a well-known poet and a well-known author of memorable lines in Hindi. And I recall the tremendous applause he drew when he spoke in Hindi in Washington. In the unlikely event of Atalji asking my advice on becoming Prime Minister again, , I would say that his first priority should be to restore cordial relations between Pakistan and India as he so successfully did in 1977-79. ( In conversation with Suhas Phadke) Mr Nani A Palkhivala is an eminent jurist and economist |
