Qualities which made Atal Bihari Vajpayee likeable even amongst his political opponents.
Ever since the news of the demise of former Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee has broken out, the entire nation has been blanketed with the smoke of grief and anguish over the loss of one of the best statesmen to have ever born in the country.
Every news channel is running the story giving tribute to Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Newspapers have extensively covered almost all the aspects of Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s life, many of which were unknown to many, especially to the ones like me who were born in the late 90s, when Atal Ji was at the peak of his career.
Having read many articles the people ranging from the leaders of BJP to the leaders of the opposition parties to former secretaries to journalists to political analysts, one attribute of Atal ji which everyone emphasized was his ability to build the consensus and take everyone along him.
Which is why even his political adversaries also had huge regard for him despite him being a part of the party with an ideology with which his detractors differed him on. He was usually called as the right person in the wrong party those who abhorred the party with Hindutva ideology of which he was a part, yet admired him for being liberal, eclectic and inclusive in his approach as a statesman and shrewd administrator.
It was his ability to build the consensus among the parties with many political and ideological differences that he managed to run a first full-time coalition government from 1999 to 2004 with the help of 24 parties. Shekhar Gupta, the editor-in-chief of “The Print” recalls him as one of the most journalist-friendly Prime Minister who was accessible to journalists and could smile even in a tough situation.
His political adversaries also admired him for being a politician who never degraded the political discourse just to score some electoral points. His nature to stand every right policy of the government despite being in the opposition, earned him the respect for being a man with principles.
Currently, I am pursuing B.A(H) Political science from Satyawati College, Delhi University.
I like public speaking, writing and reading in my leisure.
Remarkable tweet.