With the demise of Atal Bihari Vajpayee the Indian democracy has not only lost one of its most foremost Ratan but also lost the man who gave Indian democracy it voice. Atalji was a rare personality cut from the same cloth of Nehru and Gandhi as well as wearing a tinge of saffron.
When he first became MP in 1957 , Nehru had for seen that this charismatic , fiery gentlemen will one day handle the highest office of the country. An orator at par, such was the effect of his words that even Indira Gandhi whispered once that without atal ji there is a void in parliament. After the mysterious death of Deen dayal upaday, the command of Jan Sangh was handed to vajpayee. He was not an idealogue as Deen dayal , he was a poet first , holding differences with ranks of sang parivar, as he was not a homogeneitic about fellow indians. He went on the build BJP , party that was then won two seats was subjected to ridicule by then invincible Congress, there he declared that lotus will boom.
Today his party is standing at pinnacle of power. There are many incidents which I remember, but few which I would like to quote. When atal hi was the foreign minister, he realised that portrait of pm Nehru has been removed , when he got to know any about it, he ordered his men to reinstall his portrait at it original place . This was his respect for Nehru. When he become the prime minister, he got the news the Rahul Gandhi was strung in a fiasco, his party wanted him to cash the opportunity to embarrass opposition but he refused, for him the pride of the nation was foremost, showing magmanity of heart, he personally intervened to save his political opposition. Vajpayee ji was the testament to the fact that liberality of temperament has the power to transcend ideologies. His human approach, made him accessible cutting across the party lines. Under his leadership , India for the first time achieved 8 percent growth rate. He started many important projects including Sarva shiksha abiyan golden quadrilateral. The new telecom policy revolutionized the scenario of telecoms industry. He allowed privatization and allowed flowing of fdis in India, such literalistic trade policy was at difference with RSS Swadeshi policy. He was completely unorthodox of his times, one example his relationship with Israel , when other contemporary politicians of his time considered Israel as a pariah, fearing backslash from Muslim population. Promad mahajan became his chanakya, with his cabinets full of eminence like arun shourie, multi manahor Joshi, arun jatley and many others he led India to its golden age. Many difficult decisions had to be taken but he never withered from his convictions. When the country was oscillating between the imminent threat of us sanctions and national security , he pioneered the national interest surpassing the fear of sanctions and made India a de facto nuclear power. His decision to start a bus service from Delhi to Lahore was an unprecedented step towards peace. Vajpayee willingness to see India’s interest clearly without distorting ideological lenses wasalso reflected in his outreach to united states. He approach towards Kashmir origin from insaniyat and jamhooriayt. He believed in dialogue and this made him approachable to each Kashmiri even to separatist.
His legacy can be summarised in few lines where he says-
“Haar nahi mangonga,raar nahi thanooga, kaal ke kapal par likhta-mitatha hun, geeth naya gaatha hun, geeth naya gaata hun”
– Anirvan Jena
The Writers' Club 