Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s Mumbai link: From BJP’s birth to his retirement

Not only in 1980, from the formation of the BJP to Vajpayee becoming the Prime Minister, Mumbai has always played an important part in his journey.

MUMBAI HAS always played a significant role in the political journey of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

“Andhera chhatega, suraj niklega, kamal khilega (the darkness will go away, sun will rise, lotus will bloom)” — these lines spoken by Vajpayee at a public rally at the Bandra Reclamation Ground in Mumbai on April 6, 1980, had marked the birth of the BJP when the party was formally created after it came out of the Jan Sangh’s shadow.

It was also the first show of strength by the BJP with Vajpayee as the party president. On that day, organisers of the BJP Maha Adhiveshan (grand convention) had expected much lesser number of attendees, said party insiders. Senior political commentator Bharatkumar Raut, who had covered the rally as a journalist, said: “It was a turning point for both Vajpayee and the newly founded BJP. The party top leadership publicly pronounced and embraced the newly coined term ‘Gandhian socialism’.”

“What was more notable was the portraits of B R Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi finding a place at the convention — a clear departure from Jan Sangh politics,” he added.

Senior BJP leader Mukundrao Kulkarni said: “I still visualise the huge shobha yatra from Bandra Reclamation to Shivaji Park. Atalji was the centre of attraction… Vajpayee’s speech, in which he declared, ‘we are embarking on a mission to fulfill the dreams of Jay Prakash Narayan’, instilled fire in every delegate.”

Not only in 1980, from the formation of the BJP to Vajpayee becoming the Prime Minister, Mumbai has always played an important part in his journey.

In 1995, at a BJP national council meeting held at Race Course at Mahalaxmi, L K Advani had taken everybody by surprise when he declared: “Atal Bihari Vajpayee will be the Prime Minister when the party comes to power…”

BJP spokesperson Madhu Chavan, who was involved in making preparations for the meeting, said: “When Advani announced Vajpayee’s name for PM, it was a huge surprise. Even Vajpayee wondered why he was named. It should have been Advani.”

Also, Vajpayee had announced his retirement from public life in 2005 at a rally in Shivaji Park after the party’s national executive meeting in Mumbai, BJP leader Madhav Bhandari said. “Atalji had then declared that he was retiring from public life and announced that L K Advani would lead the party,” Bhandari recalled.