Raju Korti
My first look at the charismatic Atal Behari Vajpayee was some time in 1965-66 during my schooling days in Nagpur. I would often see him ambling along on the streets arm-in-arm with Lal Krishna Advani and a few other local leaders. While Advani would just smile warmly, Vajpayee would keep chuckling. In hindsight, I feel that these chuckles came out out at times from his innate sarcasm and wit and at times from the genial nature that made him immensely popular with the masses. Even in those days, I could see that Vajpayee's humor pinched but never offended anyone although both him and Advani along with other veterans like Nanaji Deshmukh were sworn and committed members of the much reviled erstwhile Jan Sangh. Too young to understand the intricacies of politics, most of us school kids followed political processions simply to collect poll pamphlets and party badges thrown at people. Advani was not too demonstrative but Vajpayee would often pause to pat our cheeks with a smile to die for.
At a time when the political reins were firmly in the hands of the Congress (not Indira's Congress then), the Jan Sangh stood no chance. It was was considered a political pariah ever since Godse pumped bullets into the frail Gandhi in 1948. It was generally accepted that the Rashtriya Swayam Sewak and the Jan Sangh were two sides of the same coin, an issue which later came to boil when the Janata Party -- of which the Jan Sangh was a constituent member -- went into a ferment because Socialist leaders Madhu Limaye and Raj Narain took it upon themselves to squander away the laboriously earned power on the duality of RSS and Jan Sangh membership. But the Vajpayee trick here was to shift seamlessly from a Sangh activist to a BJP functionary.
Two and half years later, the Janata Party government suffered multiple fractures and the Jan Sangh decided to shed its old skin to appear in a new avtaar called Bharatiya Janata Party. In all this turmoil, Vajpayee never lost his sardonic wit. If any, it got sharper. I clearly recall, the Congress, never used to be out of power, was finding it tough to reconcile to the new dispensation. So much so that fissures started appearing in its ranks. This was in 1978. I was about to become a media professional and trying to come to grips with the nitty gritty of politics. In those days of run up to my career, Vajpayee told me with that mischievous glint in his eyes: "Hum se kehte the toot jaayenge, toot jaayenge. Hum se pehle khood hi toot gaye." (They taunted us we would eventually break but themselves broke first.).
With the emergence of the BJP on the political firmament, the perceptions were becoming clearer. Advani, who catapulted the party from an inconsequential to a dominant force, made no bones about his hawkish ways while Vajpayee came across as a moderate face of the party. It prompted many to comment that Vajpayee was a right man in the wrong party.
I make this observation in the light of one major political development that could have been a game-changer in the country's political history. While pushing for a full-scale diplomatic initiative to resolve the Kashmir issue, Vajpayee, then PM, met up with President Pervez Musharraf at a summit meeting in Agra in 2001 and almost came close to being there. The summit, however, ended abruptly with Musharraf returning to Pakistan in a huff. There was no clear word on what went wrong but the general impression was it was Advani who punctured the peace process by putting his foot down and refusing to budge even an inch. Neither Vajpayee nor Advani came clean on what happened and till today the issue remains shrouded in mystery. In a way it could have been interpreted that Advani held a bigger sway over the party being the architect of BJP's revival at the national level although Vajpayee was a more popular draw. I feel it was this particular irony and dichotomy that made them an ideal pair in politics. Together, both played defining roles in steering the country and juggling their party politics.
The dhoti-jacket clad poet statesman drew wide appeal from even his arch rivals. I remember a local Congress leader once telling me that listening to Vajpayee speak was an education. "He was so good that we laughed even when he mocked us. It was laced with quaint but decent humor and we never felt slighted when he poked fun at us. Vajpayee was not one of those politicians who took pride in running rivals down. While his other partymen chose to maintain a studied silence, Vajpayee was vocal enough to have a word of praise for even his worst rivals, notable among them being Indira Gandhi whom he called "Durga" during the Bangla Desh war. It was never opposition for the sake of opposition for Vajpayee, a quality that endeared him across the political landscape. He was essentially a forward looking man. At a time when other political leaders prided themselves on the country's ethos of Jai Jawan Jai Kisan, Vajpayee added Jai Vigyan to it to rid the slogan of its cliche.
The finesse he brought to the prime minister's chair was evident in the manner in which he resigned after losing the trust motion by just one vote and walked up to the Speaker to tell him that he was headed to the Rashtrapati Bhavan right away. No claims, no headcounts no horse-trading and no attempts to wean MPs from other parties. Compare this body language with that of latter prime minister Deve Gowda who after losing the no confidence motion looked so crestfallen as if it was the end of the world.
I will not labor over how he stunned the world by ending decades-old moratorium on nuclear weapons test but nevertheless managed to ease tensions with Pakistan. Nor do I want to make out a case that he became a prime minister in a pink sandstone palace that once housed the British viceroys. It is also not my case to dwell on the steps he took to solve the boundary dispute with expansionist China or how he effected an economic overhaul by privatizing state-owned industries, encouraged foreign investments, eased trade restrictions and fostered a technological revolution. Enough has been written on his stature as a politician, statesman and a poet to elicit a repeat with just play of words..
Simply put, he was the face of the world's most populous democracy of one billion whose ethnic, religious and regional conflicts fomented massacres, three wars with Pakistan and internal strife for half a century after independence. To me, his death is a gentle nudge that this country needs Vajpayees, not politicians.
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| The Vajpayee as I saw him in my school days |
At a time when the political reins were firmly in the hands of the Congress (not Indira's Congress then), the Jan Sangh stood no chance. It was was considered a political pariah ever since Godse pumped bullets into the frail Gandhi in 1948. It was generally accepted that the Rashtriya Swayam Sewak and the Jan Sangh were two sides of the same coin, an issue which later came to boil when the Janata Party -- of which the Jan Sangh was a constituent member -- went into a ferment because Socialist leaders Madhu Limaye and Raj Narain took it upon themselves to squander away the laboriously earned power on the duality of RSS and Jan Sangh membership. But the Vajpayee trick here was to shift seamlessly from a Sangh activist to a BJP functionary.
Two and half years later, the Janata Party government suffered multiple fractures and the Jan Sangh decided to shed its old skin to appear in a new avtaar called Bharatiya Janata Party. In all this turmoil, Vajpayee never lost his sardonic wit. If any, it got sharper. I clearly recall, the Congress, never used to be out of power, was finding it tough to reconcile to the new dispensation. So much so that fissures started appearing in its ranks. This was in 1978. I was about to become a media professional and trying to come to grips with the nitty gritty of politics. In those days of run up to my career, Vajpayee told me with that mischievous glint in his eyes: "Hum se kehte the toot jaayenge, toot jaayenge. Hum se pehle khood hi toot gaye." (They taunted us we would eventually break but themselves broke first.).
With the emergence of the BJP on the political firmament, the perceptions were becoming clearer. Advani, who catapulted the party from an inconsequential to a dominant force, made no bones about his hawkish ways while Vajpayee came across as a moderate face of the party. It prompted many to comment that Vajpayee was a right man in the wrong party.
I make this observation in the light of one major political development that could have been a game-changer in the country's political history. While pushing for a full-scale diplomatic initiative to resolve the Kashmir issue, Vajpayee, then PM, met up with President Pervez Musharraf at a summit meeting in Agra in 2001 and almost came close to being there. The summit, however, ended abruptly with Musharraf returning to Pakistan in a huff. There was no clear word on what went wrong but the general impression was it was Advani who punctured the peace process by putting his foot down and refusing to budge even an inch. Neither Vajpayee nor Advani came clean on what happened and till today the issue remains shrouded in mystery. In a way it could have been interpreted that Advani held a bigger sway over the party being the architect of BJP's revival at the national level although Vajpayee was a more popular draw. I feel it was this particular irony and dichotomy that made them an ideal pair in politics. Together, both played defining roles in steering the country and juggling their party politics.
The dhoti-jacket clad poet statesman drew wide appeal from even his arch rivals. I remember a local Congress leader once telling me that listening to Vajpayee speak was an education. "He was so good that we laughed even when he mocked us. It was laced with quaint but decent humor and we never felt slighted when he poked fun at us. Vajpayee was not one of those politicians who took pride in running rivals down. While his other partymen chose to maintain a studied silence, Vajpayee was vocal enough to have a word of praise for even his worst rivals, notable among them being Indira Gandhi whom he called "Durga" during the Bangla Desh war. It was never opposition for the sake of opposition for Vajpayee, a quality that endeared him across the political landscape. He was essentially a forward looking man. At a time when other political leaders prided themselves on the country's ethos of Jai Jawan Jai Kisan, Vajpayee added Jai Vigyan to it to rid the slogan of its cliche.
The finesse he brought to the prime minister's chair was evident in the manner in which he resigned after losing the trust motion by just one vote and walked up to the Speaker to tell him that he was headed to the Rashtrapati Bhavan right away. No claims, no headcounts no horse-trading and no attempts to wean MPs from other parties. Compare this body language with that of latter prime minister Deve Gowda who after losing the no confidence motion looked so crestfallen as if it was the end of the world.
I will not labor over how he stunned the world by ending decades-old moratorium on nuclear weapons test but nevertheless managed to ease tensions with Pakistan. Nor do I want to make out a case that he became a prime minister in a pink sandstone palace that once housed the British viceroys. It is also not my case to dwell on the steps he took to solve the boundary dispute with expansionist China or how he effected an economic overhaul by privatizing state-owned industries, encouraged foreign investments, eased trade restrictions and fostered a technological revolution. Enough has been written on his stature as a politician, statesman and a poet to elicit a repeat with just play of words..
Simply put, he was the face of the world's most populous democracy of one billion whose ethnic, religious and regional conflicts fomented massacres, three wars with Pakistan and internal strife for half a century after independence. To me, his death is a gentle nudge that this country needs Vajpayees, not politicians.
I loved the story telling. Kudos. Explained everything without any political bias.
ReplyDeleteThank you Sanjib.
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