Encomiums continue to flow : More than respected
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: August 22 2018 -

The encomiums continue to flow. The acknowledgement, the doff of the hat, the lavish praise from all quarters cutting across political parties and clearly Atal Bihari Vajpayee was more than respected.

He was loved, not only as a leader but also as the patriarch of a family.

This says something profound about a man, a political leader and as noted journalist Vir Sanghvi noted in his column ‘The Taste with Vir Sanghvi’ in The Hindustan Times, he was a man who had a life outside politics and a family who gave him the love to provide the balance that one needs in life.

Something which not every political leader of today can lay claim to.

What makes this all more unique is the fact that the late man never married instead adopting a child and making her his daughter, Namita Kaul.

The first non-Congress Prime Minister of the country to complete a full term in office, Vajpayee was this and more.

Making India a nuclear power, winning the Kargil war against Pakistan and putting the economy of the country on track.

Widely regarded as the moderate face of the BJP, the party he helped found after the Jana Sangh was dissolved, Vajpayee was a man known for his sharp oratorial skills.

Much before he became the Prime Minister and did his stint as a Minister during the days of the Janata party after the Emergency of 1975, Vajpayee was perhaps the main crowd puller during all the protest meetings organised by the Opposition parties after the late Indira Gandhi imposed the infamous Emergency in 1975.

Truth be told, many of those who thronged the Opposition sponsored protest meetings mainly turned up to listen to him.

This is from Durbar written by noted journalist Tavleen Singh much before the present BJP Government came to power.

Ironic it may sound, but when the BJP led NDA Government was in power at the Centre under Vajpayee, the BJP was a non-entity in Manipur.

Maybe it was the wind of change blowing through the power corridors at New Delhi that stopped the BJP from gaining the attention of the people here in Manipur.

Or maybe it was the ‘ceasefire without territorial limits’ insertion in the peace pact with the NSCN (IM), but the BJP back then when Vajpayee, Advani and MM Joshi formed the triumvirate of the BJP leadership at New Delhi, never did manage to catch the fancy of the voters here.

This could be the reason why the media here is not very familiar with Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

It is a different thing that after the BJP stormed the Lok Sabha elections in 2014, a large number of people in Manipur have gradually and surely started proclaiming their association with the RSS or their RSS background !

But Vajpayee seemed to be above all this while he was alive.

Known as the moderate face of the BJP, many from the other side of the political divide used to call him the ‘right man in the wrong party.’

A powerful statement that many could see and accept him, sans his BJP background.

Something which not every politician can lay claim to. And herein lies the greatness of the late Prime Minister.