Atal Bihar Vajpayee was elected to the Lok Sabha ten times and twice to the Rajya Sabha. He was the minister of external affairs in the Morarji government and later became prime minister thrice.
In times of turbulence and disruption, a nation is blessed to have a leader who rises to become its moral compass and guiding spirit, providing vision, cohesion and direction to his people.
अटल जी अब नहीं रहे। मन नहीं मानता। अटल जी, मेरी आंखों के सामने हैं, स्थिर हैं। जो हाथ मेरी पीठ पर धौल जमाते थे, जो स्नेह से, मुस्कराते हुए मुझे अंकवार में भर लेते थे, वे स्थिर हैं। अटल जी की ये स्थिरता मुझे झकझोर रही है, अस्थिर कर रही है।
अटल बिहारी वाजपेयी इस देश की राष्ट्रीयता के प्राणतत्व थे। भारत क्या है, अगर इसे एक पंक्ति में समझना हो तो अटल बिहारी वाजपेयी का नाम ही काफी है। वे लगभग आधी शताब्दी तक हमारी संसदीय प्रणाली के बेजोड़ नेता रहे। अपनी वक्तृत्व क्षमता से वे लोगों के दिलो में बसते थे।
His political journey shaped his ideology. His convictions were shaped by his deep commitment to the nation from the student days association with the Quit India Movement to his joining the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and then being associated with
अटल जी के निधन को तमाम लोग एक युग का अंत बता रहे है, लेकिन मेरे ख्याल से यह उस युग की निरंतरता ही है जिसके वह प्रवर्तक रहे | उनकी राजनितिक यात्रा की शुरुआत छात्र जीवन में भारत छोडो आन्दोलन में भाग लेने से हुई |
The distance between Treasury benches and its “loyal” Opposition in Britain’s House of Commons is, famously, the length of two swords plus one inch. The inference is clear. Politicians might be at daggers drawn, but democracy cannot afford drawn swords.
I first met Atal Bihari Vajpayee as a young student in Delhi University. My friend, the late Ashok Saikia, who later served in the PMO, was a family friend of Vajpayee. He introduced me to the young, debonair and fast-rising star in Jana Sangh: Vajpayee, a poet and a statesman.
Atalji practised his brand of politics without any hesitation or rethink. We have successfully done away with untouchability in social life. Yet, we acquired a new type of scourge called political untouchability.
वर्तमान भारतीय राजनीति में सत्ता या विपक्ष में रहते हुये जन श्रद्धा का केन्द्र बने रहना उतना ही दुष्कर है जितना कि आज भी चांद पर पहुंचना। अटल बिहारी वाजपेयी 12 साल से बिस्तर पर रहे, पर कोई दिन ऐसा नहीं गया होगा जब उनकी चर्चाएं करोड़ो घरों में नित नहीं होती रही होंगी।
There are some impressions that persist. My abiding impression of Atal Bihari Vajpayee was that he was never in a hurry. I can picture him walking unhurriedly through the corridors of Parliament, lazily greeting admirers who rushed to him;
It was early evening on April 17, 1999, when the counting of votes in the confidence motion moved by ended. We had been holed up inside his room for over two days, watching heated exchanges between the treasury benches and the opposition.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s former private secretary writes, “Vajpayee was an uncompromising patriot, with a strong sense of his Hinduness, which was cultural and civilisational.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee was a normal person who had infinite patience and a firm conviction that India was destined to be a superpower. He was a leader who gave a lot of attention to contrarian views, but was firm in his conviction to go ahead with the nuclear tests in Pokhran.
In private chats and official conversations, Vajpayee had a sense of humour, sometimes at himself. A wisecrack would ease a tense atmosphere. He recognised early that parliamentary management and governance were not as much about winning arguments as about winning friends.
Everybody loved Atal Bihari Vajpayee, even his opponents. A Congress MP once said, marvelling, “Vajpayee is India’s best Congressman.” Amid the rascals and hate-raisers of Indian politics, he stood out for humanity, integrity and inclusiveness. Alone among BJP leaders,
पूर्व प्रधानमंत्री अटल बिहारी वाजपेयी को सब प्यार करते थे. यहां तक कि उन्हें अपने विरोधियों का भी स्नेह मिलता था. एक बार कांग्रेस के एक सांसद ने कहा था, "वाजपेयी देश के सबसे बेहतर कांग्रेसी हैं." धूर्त और नफरत फैलाने वाले हमारे राजनीतिज्ञों के बीच वे मानवता, ईमानदारी और सबको साथ लेकर चलने वाले राजनेता के प्रतीक थे.
Some will say it was his great oratory, poetry that tugged at the heart-strings, that set him apart. Others will talk of his easy manners, avuncular personality and ability to appeal to politicians and people across the ideological divide.
Finally, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the Prime Minister, stood up to reply. And after half-an-hour, even as their arguments lay demolished, Opposition leaders had no choice but to laugh heartily; Vajpayee was at his wittiest best.
Satta ka khel toh chalega, Sarkarein aayengi… jaayengi…Partiyaan banengi… bigadengi…Magar ye desh rahna chahiye, Is desh ka loktantra amar rahna chahiye…!
While deeply regretting the passing away of the iconic former prime minister, Bharat Ratna, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, I perceive no better way of condoling the loss to the nation than by recalling from memory his iconic contribution towards India’s strategic construct.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the first non-Congress Prime Minister to complete a full term in office. He led a coalition bound by nothing much expect anti-Congress politics, scaling India’s nuclear capability and winning a war against Pakistan.
For eight years, from May 1996 to May 2004, as a member of the 11th, 12th and 13th Lok Sabhas, I closely observed and frequently interacted with Atal Bihari Vajpayee. In spite of my reservations about the ideological tendency of which he was a veteran leader,
अटल जी पर बहुत लोग बहुत कुछ कह रहे है, लेकिन किसी के लिए भी उनके जीवन से जुड़े सभी पहलुओ पर प्रकाश डालना संभव नहीं |
Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was known for his speeches that could move millions or fire them up with josh (enthusiasm), but very few people know that he was tongue-tied when he stood before his schoolmates during a debate in Barnagar town of Ujjain district in 1934.