Yogi, minister visit Atal in AIIMS

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath and his ministerial colleague Mahendra Singh visited former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee at Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on Wednesday.

The 93-year-old leader was admitted to the premier hospital on June 11 with kidney tract infection and chest congestion. He had shown significant improvement in the past 48 hours and doctors are hopeful of his full recovery in the next few days, AIIMS director Randeep Guleria said on Wednesday afternoon.

In the nearly 40 minutes of their stay, Adityanath and Singh discussed the former PM’s popularity as reflected in the diverse set of visitors who have been calling on him.

A host of political leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP chief Amit Shah, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and former prime ministers Manmohan Singh and H D Deve Gowda, and Congress president Rahul Gandhi have visited the former PM over the past two days.

“If you were to analyse those who have been coming to AIIMS belong to different political ideologies but everyone is united in their concern for Atalji. Everyone is praying for his long life,” Mahendra Singh said after the visit.

Adityanath and Singh, along with Vajpayee’s personal secretary Shivkumar Sharma, reminisced how ‘Atalji’ had famously predicted, ‘andhera chatega, kamal khilega (lotus will bloom as darkness will give way).

Adityanath recalled how as a five-term MP he was amazed to see the kind of respect Vajpayee got in Parliament.

“When he stood up to speak, everyone listened, as if mesmerised by the oratorical magic of a politician and a statesman,” Adityanath told Singh.

Adityanath also spoke to doctors to get the latest on Vajpayee’s health.

“The doctors informed us that he was responding well to treatment. This is music to the ears of his countless admirers and well wishers,” Shivkumar said.

“I will never be able to forget that day in July 1996 when Atalji praised me many times for the manner in which I conducted the stage that featured him in Lucknow. Again, in 1999 after a successful knee operation, I was among the three to interact with him. I asked him ‘aapke ghutne ab kaise hain? He replied, bilkul theek hain.. ghutney par chalkar hi to aaya hoon (when I asked him how his knees were, he said, absolutely fine and come for video conferencing with their help only!)” Mahendra Singh recalled.