History judges any individual after nearly three decades. The rulers in a democratic or autocratic set-up earn popularity, name and fame but a few sustain popularity and respectability even after they cease to be in power. On the Indian political arena, lot many personalities appeared but not many sustained the long standing popularity like Mahatma Gandhi. Among the rulers Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Deputy Prime Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel were followed by PMs Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. They did attain popularity but either their span was short lived or some actions by them fetch them unpopularity. Even today, Gandhi, Nehru and Sardar are considered such towering personalities that they are not only being respected by majority of people in India but even abroad. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, though not active in present-day politics, could be the most respected Prime Minister from non-Congress ruling alliance i.e. National Democratic Alliance(NDA). Despite being a Member of Parliament of the right wing Jan Sangh since 1957 and later of it’s new avatar Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) since 1980, Vajpayee headed the Indian coalition Governments between 1996 and 2004 for three short-lived terms. He was also the External Affairs Minister in the short lived Janata Party Government headed by Morarji Desai between 1977 and 1979.
Born in Scindia Cantonment at Gwalior on 25 December 1924 (25 December 1926 as per his school register), Vajpayee came in contact with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh(RSS) from his childhood being the activist of Arya Kumar Sabha. He became a full-timer,
Pracharak, with RSS and did not marry.
A celebrated poet nick-named, ‘Kavi Kaidiray’, Vajpayee had a dream to be a College teacher but destiny dragged him to get involved in politics after his stints as Editor of Rashtra Dharma, Swadesh and Veer Arjun Dailies and Panchjanya magazine between 1946 and 1951. Atal ji, as he is popularly addressed as, was not only a founder member of Jan Sangh but was also a personal secretary to the founder President of Jan Sangh(1951-53), Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee. He contested the first Lok Sabha election from Lucknow in 1955 but could enter the Lok Sabha as a Jan Sangh nominee from Balrampur in U.P. only in 1957 along with three other members of his party. Even during the initial days, the opposition was less in number but was more effective quality-wise. Vajpayee had a chance to head and build up both Jan Sangh and BJP. He has been the member of both the Houses of Indian Parliament, Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha and was awarded the Best Parliamentarian Award.
Known for his oratory, Vajpayee could impress the first Prime Minister, Nehru, in the Lok Sabha by his maiden speech. “My very first speech on Foreign Policy attracted attention of the House. English used to dominate the proceedings of the House. Most of the speeches on Foreign Policy were usually delivered in English. Of course, Shri Brajraj Singh of the Socialist Party, as a rule, did speak in Hindi. My Hindi was chaste. The members liked my fluent style. On 20th August, 1958 Prime Minister Shri Nehru after concluding his speech in English in reply to the full debate sought the permission of the Speaker to speak something in Hindi. The members welcome this gesture by clapping their hands. When Shri Nehru after referring to me by name started speaking in Hindi the members once again expressed their happiness over it.”
Equally fluent in English, Vajpayee preferred to address the 32 nd General Assembly of the United Nations in Hindi in 1977 even as the External Affairs Minister of India! “He placed before the U.N. the towering ideal Vasuddhaiv Kutumbakam, which means the world is one family”, writes Dr. N. M. Ghatate, a Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court
and the editor of the volumes “Atal Bihari Vajpayee: Four Decades in Parliament” in Hindi and English. Dr. Ghatate notes : After the sudden fall of Janata Party Government talking to me about international relations, he said : ‘If I had a full term(as the External Affairs Minister), perhaps dispute with China and Pakistan would have been solved.’ Sometimes people used to say: “Atal ji, you are a right person in the wrong party.” But he has been proud of his association with RSS and BJP. Referring to the rift between Rajmata Scindia and her son, Madhav Rao, Vajpayee says: “It is not in my nature to behave rudely with my political opponents. I always had a natural affection and respect for Shri Scindia. It was I, who had in the first place, enrolled him as member of Jan Sangh.” The Rajmata was not only a Congress M.P. but she was a close friend of Indira Gandhi. She left the Congress in 1967 and challenged Smt. Gandhi. During the black days of the Emergency(1975-77) of PM Indira Gandhi, both Vajpayee and Rajmata were sent to jail where as Madhav Rao preferred to escape the torture and later joined the Congress.
Vajpayee has been liberal in expressing opinion about the Congress Prime Ministers unlike his party and RSS leaders. He finds Pandit Nehru “by nature a democrat, but somewhat headstrong. His capacity to take the House with him was unparalleled.” Atal ji finds Shastri proving “a worthy successor to Pandit Nehru”. While comparing Indira with Morarji Desai as the PM, Atal ji records: “She believed in talking little. After listening to all, she formed her opinion and expressed it at the end if at all. Morarji Desai’s personality was just the opposite. He expressed himself even before listening to others.” In the initial days the comment about Smt. Gandhi calling her “a dumb doll” was unfair to her, says Vajpayee. While Vajpayee denies comparing Smt. Gandhi with “Durga” in the Parliament, he does put on record: “I was also one of those who praised Indiraji highly for her successful leadership in the Bangladesh crisis” and “Shri Jagjivan Ram’s substantial contribution”. He appreciates the etiquette of PM Rajiv Gandhi. The former PM, Atal Bihari, is pained to note: “In Parliament there is less discussion but more noise. Election have been reduced to a farce because of the use of money power on an expensive scale…The parties are forming the Governments on the strength of 30-35 per cent of votes….The society already divided by the considerations of caste, sub-caste, modes of worship, languages and different life styles is getting gradually disintegrated. Communalism is at its worst….In their lust for power the political parties do not refrain from giving encouragement to secessionist forces, so much so that they do not even desist from hobnobbing with anti-national elements.”
Next Column : Sardar Patel for Uniform Civil Code
( The writer is a Socio-political Historian. E-mail : [email protected] )
