Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Express archive photo by Mukesh Parpiani
“No one should speak until she finishes her question. OK?, Now, you, ask me what you want to ask”. This was Atal Bihari Vajpayee, then Prime Minister, waiting for me to ask questions. The occasion was a get-together at the Raj Bhavan in Lucknow.
As usual, when the Prime Minister entered the hall, it was mayhem. The journos jostled with each other to get him to talk to them. Myself, a young reporter, along with another one were pushed behind. I shouted “Vajpayee ji, Vajpayeeji”. He heard me and asked another journalist standing near him “Who is that girl, call her here.” There I was standing in front of him, after being pushed by others to the front row. “What happened,” he asked me with that warm smile. As always what I saw on his face was those smiling, shining eyes. Yes, Vajpayee used to smile through his eyes too.
However, nervous me had nothing much to ask. I remember struggling to find the right question as I being a young reporter at a news agency – I was with Indo Asian News Service – never expected such an encounter with the Prime Minister. I never thought Indian Prime Minister would make me stand in front of him and would offer me such a golden opportunity. I remember asking him about BJP’s stand on some controversial issue and about the Women’s Bill. He said: “See, I would be the happiest person if the Women’s Bill gets passed. But I cannot do it alone.” Then with that familiar charm, he added: “See, I always give preference to girls, like I did for you now.”
BJP Leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee (C). Express archive photo
But another encounter with him had produced a breaking news. During a winter session, Vajpayee came up to the first floor to cast his vote for some committees. He saw three-four of us standing at the entrance of press gallery of the Lok Sabha. “What’s happening in Kerala?” he asked me. I smiled at him and said everything is fine. Then we asked him about Ram Temple in Ayodhya because it was December 6, the Babri Masjid demolition anniversary. It took not even a minute for the Prime Minister to come up with this: “The construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya is an expression of national sentiment which is yet to be fulfilled.” This remark had triggered lot of uproar from the Opposition and critics who accused Vajpayee of siding with a particular community. This had prompted S Jaipal Reddy, currently in the Congress, to say this: “It was not a slip of the tongue, not even a Freudian slip. It was a slip of the mask.”
Vajpayee was one of those rarest of rare politicians who would exude warmth. You get angry at him, his policies, the position of his party – but the moment you stand before him, it melts away. He was so charming that you never feel anything bad about him. The numerous tales, journalists who used to cover BJP, share tell you about the amazing capacity he had to charm anyone. Be it Opposition leaders or be it hostile journalists.
Late CPI leader A B Bardhan often narrated an incident in which the Prime Minister convened a meeting of Opposition leaders and asked them to intensify their protests inside Parliament against Indian government’s move to send troops to Iraq to assist the US in 2003. The US had hoped that India would send an army division to Iraq’s Kurdistan region around Mosul. Vajpayee, who apparently did not want to break India’s usual equal distance policy, called Bardhan and CPI-M general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet for tea. According to Bardhan, Vajpayee asked them what did they think about giving a commitment to the Bush administration. Both Communist leaders outrightly rejected the idea. “Then why dont you say it loudly inside the House?” asked the Prime Minister. The Communist veterans got the message and their parties disrupted the proceedings of the house protesting against Indian government’s move and “under domestic pressure” the government had to drop the idea.
Vajpayee was one of those rarest of rare politicians who would exude warmth. You get angry at him, his policies, the position of his party – but the moment you stand before him, it melts away. (File)
His speeches may have been eloquent, he would have spoken very seriously. But some anecdotes show what a simple person he was. One day when journalists were sitting with Pramod Mahajan, his PMO minister, he got a call from the Prime Minister. Mahajan was heard responding to him: “I will come soon.” He was about to hang up, but heard Vajpayee saying something else. After a few seconds, a smiling Mahajan told journalists: “He was telling me I should eat lunch at home, because at Prime Minister’s residence, it is Tinda for lunch today.”
I have also seen how calmly he handled an angry Sonia Gandhi, who was the Opposition leader then. It was one of those days, where the Bofors and the allegations against the Gandhi family had resurfaced and the treasury benches created pandemonium over the issue in the Lok Sabha. The house was adjourned. But Sonia Gandhi remained seated there, red faced. As the members started walking out, she started fuming and shouting “how long you would keep raising this against me and family? Why are you not able to find anything? You keep raising it to humiliate my late husband.” A shocked Mahajan ran to Sonia Gandhi to calm her down. Vajpayee kept watching for a few minutes and went to her and said something. Gandhi, still angry, but picked her bag and walked out. Vajpayee was seen discussing something intensely with Mahajan then.
Vajpayee was unique as a leader. Perhaps, BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya was right today when he said: “There is no one like Vajpayee and there will be no one like him.”