There is no one like Atal ji in the entire BJP
Hemant Sharma 25 December 2024
Had Atal ji been alive, he would have been 100 years old today. Atal is a visionary thought in Indian politics. He is a critic and admirer of Nehru. He is a friend and opponent of Lohia. He agrees and disagrees with Indira. Atal stands close to liberalism, away from fanaticism in politics. As soon as India got independence, it was on the verge of violent and bitter politics. One of the leaders who brought the country’s politics back to humanity is Atal Bihari. His personality is more powerful than his party.
In the nineties, even in the politics entangled in religion, caste, creed and sect, Atal tries to make a path of love. He has come out of the room of kaajal clean. Atal is the trust for those who are connected to the ideology. And hope for those who are away from the ideology. In Indian politics, the path away from Atal will take you towards bitterness. Atal is called the standard of an ideal Indian politician. He can be called the top man of inclusive politics. He believed that to speak, one needs words and to remain silent, one needs both words and wisdom. Atal ji was the MP from Lucknow for sixteen years and during that time, I was the state correspondent of Jansatta. At that time, Jansatta was a widely read newspaper. It had influence and influence in the country.
When Atal Ji was in Lucknow, he would definitely talk to me. I was his best friend. Somewhere during a meeting, someone said in a humorous way what was often said. ‘Atal Ji is a good man but is in the wrong party’. The person who said this was from the opposition party. Vajpayee Ji used to say- “If I am a good man, how can I be in the wrong party and if I am in the wrong party, how can I be a good man. If the fruit is good, the tree cannot be bad”.
I saw many shades of Atal Ji’s temperament and found him unmatched in every shade. This is from 1999. Then Kalyan Singh was the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and Atal Ji was the Prime Minister of the country. Kalyan Singh had raised a flag against the party leadership for some special reasons. He also turned against Atal Ji. Later he had to leave the post of Chief Minister and Ramprakash Gupta became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.
When this controversy was at its peak, Vajpayee ji came to Lucknow. He stayed at the Raj Bhavan. The bitterness between the two had increased to such an extent that the Lucknow newspapers had speculative news that day whether Kalyan Singh would go to meet the Prime Minister at the Raj Bhavan or not. During his last visit, Atal ji had expressed his wish to meet my little daughter. I reached the Raj Bhavan to introduce my daughter to Atal ji. While waiting for the meeting, I saw Kalyan Singh coming out after meeting Atal ji. This was a ‘scoop’ for me. I thought that now when I meet Atal ji, I will get to know the news. As soon as I entered his room, Atal ji became happy to see Ishani. He started playing with her.
I asked him if Kalyan Singh had come. He nodded his head and said ‘yes’. What happened? He ignored my question. I asked again, but Atal ji ignored it again. He had some difficulty in hearing from his right ear. He used to wear a ‘hearing aid’. I went to the other side and insisted and asked, what happened with Kalyan Singh? What complaint does he have against you? Atal ji put his hand in his sadri pocket and took out his hearing aid and showing it to me said, “I did not hear anything. My machine was in my pocket.” This was also Atal’s style of not listening to unpleasant things.
Atal ji sometimes used to say such things which have always been unimaginable for politicians. This was the time when filmmaker Muzaffar Ali was contesting elections against Atal ji from Lucknow. Many film personalities were campaigning for him. A lot of people gathered. Seeing the crowd, Atal ji’s camp started getting worried. I wrote a report in the meantime. The report referred to the mayoral election of Lucknow in the year 1950. At that time, the famous Hakim Shamshuddin of Lucknow was the candidate for the post of mayor. He had a lot of influence. Seeing his popularity, some fun-loving elements, including some socialists, fielded a courtesan named Dilruba against him. Dances started happening during the campaign. Crowds of youth started gathering. It seemed that Hakim sahab would lose the election.
Then the prominent citizens of Lucknow, under the leadership of Amrit Lal Nagar, gave the slogan ‘Dil deeji Dilruba ko vote Shamshuddin ko’. The situation changed, Hakim sahab won the election. My ground sources were constantly reporting to me that Atal Ji was also facing similar situations. After reading the news, Atal Ji called me. He said- “Amazing, by finding this story, you have boosted the morale of our workers who were getting troubled by the crowd. Many thanks.” I said- Atal Ji, what thanks for this? I wrote what I found.
After this, I wrote another report in which Atal Ji’s victory was said to be certain in view of all the equations and ground conditions. One day Atal Ji called me and said- “You have a lot of credibility in Delhi. It should not happen that these reports published in my favour endanger your impartiality. You should take care of that. Elections will keep coming and going. I see a lot of potential in you. Your news should not be too biased towards me”. I was stunned and speechless. For the first time I met a politician who was saying that you should not write much in my favour. Today, if you write against someone, the other person considers it as an enemy.
Atal Ji had the innate intelligence to predict the future. I also got to know about this. This happened in July 1995. There was a dilemma in BJP about whether to hold elections under the leadership of Atal Ji or put forward Advani. Atal Ji was elected as the party president in the working committee meeting held in Pune. But there was an internal debate on whose face the party should contest the elections. Atal Ji was aware of this debate that some people wanted to make Advani the leader.
By then Advani had become the hero of the temple movement. That very day, in the public meeting at the Race Course in the evening, Vajpayee was on the stage with his magnetic personality. The music of his voice dominated the gathering. Rise and fall. Closing eyes with dramatic pause between two words and then looking with piercing eyes. Perhaps due to these reasons, Vajpayee Ji’s speech was not heard, but seen. In a flash, Vajpayee said, “Some people feel that I am tired. Some think that I will retire. I am neither tired nor going to retire. Let us contest the elections under the leadership of Advani Ji.” We will move forward”. This was Atal Ji’s way of saying his point. The controversy was over. But the effect was that in the evening, Advani Ji had to say in a press conference that the election would be held under the leadership of Atal Ji. In 1996, the election was held under the leadership of Atal Ji. Atal Ji became the Prime Minister.
Another incident comes to my mind. It was 1993. That day, sensation spread from Lucknow to Delhi. An Indian Airlines plane flying from Lucknow to Delhi was hijacked. The date was 22 January 1993. The plane had just taken off from Lucknow when after 15 minutes there was a state of panic. A man with a cloth wrapped in his hand was saying in a warning tone, ‘I have a chemical bomb in my hand. Take this plane back to Lucknow immediately, otherwise the consequences will be very terrible.’ The passengers were scared to death. In a hurry, the Air Traffic Control in Lucknow was informed about the hijacking of the plane. There were 48 passengers in the plane. By now the plane was landing back at Lucknow airport.
When the reason for the hijacking was known, the officers were stunned. The hijacker was demanding to call Atal Bihari Vajpayee, otherwise he was threatening to blow up the plane. The DM of Lucknow at that time was Ashok Priyadarshi. He rushed to the state guest house to meet Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Atal ji was preparing to have his meal. He left his meal and reached the spot. He was made to talk to the hijacker on the ATC line. But he still did not agree.
He was adamant on calling him. Atal ji said let me go. Now the DM, Lalji Tandon and Atal Bihari Vajpayee reached the plane in a jeep. The hijacker did not agree to talk from outside, so they had to go inside. First DM Ashok Priyadarshi entered inside, then Lalji Tandon entered the plane. By then they had understood what the hijacker wanted. Tandon ji called Atal ji in the plane. Now Atal ji was in front of him. His security guards had also entered inside. Lalji Tandon explained to the hijacker that Atal Ji is in front of you. You first touch his feet. Then tell your story. The hijacker agreed.
As soon as he bent down, the guards grabbed his neck. The news of chemical bomb turned out to be false. The police arrested him and took him away. The public was shouting slogans of Atal Bihari ki Jai Jai. All the commotion had stopped. Now Lalji Tandon looked around the plane. Sitaram Kesari, the then treasurer of Congress, was quietly hiding in a corner in the same plane. That night, arrangements were made for the passengers to stay in Lucknow. The next day, all the passengers went to Delhi by the same flight. Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lalji Tandon were also with them in the flight.
Let me tell you another story from this year. In 1993, there were elections in Himachal Pradesh. Vajpayee ji was on a tour in a small plane of Kanpur’s JK Singhania Company. Balbir Punj and a few others were with him. The plane had to reach Dharamshala. Vajpayee ji used to fall asleep as soon as he sat in the plane. Then the co-pilot of the plane came out of the cockpit and asked Punj ji- “Have you been to Dharamshala before?” Balbir Punj asked but why are you asking all this. The pilot, showing some helplessness, said that we have a map of the Second World War. We are unable to contact the ATC and Dharamshala is not visible from above. Punj ji got nervous and said- be careful that we do not reach the border of China by mistake. Then Vajpayee ji woke up and asked- “It is time for the meeting. When will we land?” The aide told him about the immediate problem. Vajpayee ji quipped. This will be very good. The news will be published. ‘Vajpayee is dead’. We will go in a gun carriage. However, as per his wish, his last journey was in the ‘Gun Carriage’. Panicked Punj ji said, “It is fine for you, what about me”. Vajpayee ji said jokingly, “If we have come this far, we will go there together”. To lighten the atmosphere, he again said while awake that if there is a ‘crash’, it will be very painful. After saying this, he went to sleep again. All the companions were in shock. Later, contact was made with another plane. And Atal ji’s plane landed safely in Kullu.
Vajpayee ji was unmatched in his wit. Many a times, he would solve the most difficult questions with his wit. Whether inside or outside the parliament, many slipped and fell on the slippery path of his wit. Vajpayee was always considered the liberal face of the Bharatiya Janata Party. There were two factions in the party regarding the temple movement. There was agreement on the temple but there were two opinions on the method of the movement. On this very issue, Vajpayee ji was once asked that there is a moderate group in the BJP and a hard group. You are the leader of one and Advani ji of the other. Vajpayee ji immediately replied- I am not in any quagmire. I will make my lotus bloom in the quagmire of others. The question flew away in the air.
There were many such occasions of difficult issues when Vajpayee ji got out of them with his wit. Vajpayee ji’s answer on not getting married is very famous. He once said that I am definitely unmarried but (taking a pause) I am not a bachelor. A female journalist was very curious about the secret of his being single. After several attempts, she finally asked Atal ji a direct question- “Vajpayee ji, why are you still single?” Vajpayee ji stopped, stared at him. Then said… “In search of an ideal wife.” The woman journalist did not stop there. She asked again, did she find one? Vajpayee paused a little and answered in his own style- “I did find one, but she too was looking for an ideal husband.” This uncomfortable question was met with laughter.
All the memories and stories related to Atal Ji are like a philosophy of life. Being able to remain so accessible, simple and easy-going even while being in politics was a part of his life craft. Sticking to his principles and yet not being bitter, not harboring animosity, not fighting a war of rivalry, all these are remnants of his legacy which have become rare after him. His wit used to tickle. It used to bind. Whoever met him once, became his. He used to earn relationships. He used to earn human relations. There was no end to these relationships. As many people who were of his ideology were with him, as many people with different thinking were also with him. Atal Ji was a unique political culture in himself. Such a culture will always remain unforgettable on the screen of time.
(Courtesy Hemant Sharma’s Facebook page)
