Haar Nahi Manoonga...Salute to a Statesman Par Excellence

Video courtesy: www.bjp.org

PRapport salutes to former premier Aral Bihari Vajpayee who passed away today. Here is a collection of tributes:

Everyone waited for his speeches…

By Bishwajit Mukherjee,

ABC, IABC Fellow

At college we had a classmate, Pratibha Thakur, who would give us information about Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s arrivals in Patna. He always chose to stay at the Jana Sangha State President Thakur Prasad’s house on Dak Bungalow Road.

Thakur Prasad was a well-known lawyer in town and was a close friend of my father, who was a Barrister and also the Administrator-General for the State of Bihar. Hence it was easy for me to show up after college at Thakur’s residence whenever Vajpayee visited Patna. I would park my cycle in front of his porch and walk inside as most of the inmates knew me.

We would participate in the chats and light-hearted banter that would be the order of the day over cups of tea and samosas which would be on offer often.

Once I found out what time he is scheduled to speak at the Gandhi Maidan, I would quietly leave the house and make my way towards home. There I would leave my cycle and, after a freshening up, walk towards Gandhi Maidan.

In those days there was no security issues and so I could go right up the dias and sit at arm’s length munching freshly roasted peanuts in newspaper cones. So I would listen to stalwarts like George Fernandes, Acharya VinovaBhave, Minoo Masani, Dvivedi, Ram Manohar Lohia and others. But everyone would wait with great eagerness and anticipation to hear Atal Bihari Vajpayee. And he will never disappoint. His oratory, his knowledge, his sincerity and devotion to the cause of India was never in doubt. He was one of the greatest poets and orators that modern India has produced. His speeches would be mind-blowing.

Vajpayee is no more. The world and the nation will miss him. He has left avoid that will be difficult to fill. May his crusade guide today’s leaders to a glorious, unfettred and unbiased path that can truly be called a legacy that he has left behind. (The author is Founder-President, International Association of Business Communicators India Chapter and Former Director on the Executive Board of the IABC, USA)

Former Air India Director Jitender Bhargava (extreme left) remembers his
contact with Atal ji and says: "I am speechless today when I heard about
the great statesman's death

A Rare Rattan: A rare 'Rattan' indeed with all the qualities of a great orator, towering leader, strong administrator and top notch poet who always selflessly served the nation. He was a great Parliamentarian.You will stay in the hearts of all Indians.Vajpayee ji was a great politician India has ever produced.

May his soul rest in peace. - Renuka Salwan, Director - Public Relayions, Panjab University.

End of An Era: The Era of Statesmanship in Indian Politics Ends with the sad demise of the former Prime Minister of India Bharat Ratna Sri Atal Bihari Vajpayee. May his soul rest in peace.- Chaya Umesh Chandra, President Elect PRCI Bangalore Chapter

Blast from the past: Vajpayee's professionalism beyond politics

By S.Narendra

(Former Information Adviser to PM, Principal Information Officer

to the government, & Spokesperson)

Personal equations play a critical role even in a professional setting. This is more so in semi-political situations such as when I was the Spokesman and Information Adviser to more than one PM. When there was a political transition, such as the one that happened in May 1996 when BJP under Atal Behari Vajpayee replaced the Congress government of P.V.Narasimha Rao, I did not know the new PM personally.

Adding to my difficulty was the fact that several persons, with party affiliation, including some media persons, had entered PMO with Vajpayee to look after media affairs. In their eyes, officials who had worked with the previous governments, which were mostly Congress party ones, were suspect. No government official, including myself, had a choice because BJP had not won power at the centre since Independence. The BJP party functionaries could not understand the concept of civil service neutrality and official professionalism.

But their tallest leader, Atal Behari Vajpayee was different by miles. Soon after Vajpayee was sworn in as PM, I called on him. The great leader received me very cordially, put me at ease by telling that I should continue to function as before and said: ‘Hum media ko bahut samman karte hain’. His foster son- in- law Ranjan Bhattacharya, who was functioning as his personal assistant, was extraordinarily warm and courteous and did not seem to share the hang up of party functionaries. He greatly facilitated my work, especially by giving free access to PM, whenever I needed to meet him.

To recall, BJP had emerged in the 1996 elections as the single largest party but far sort of a majority. The President Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma  asked the government and prove its majority in Parliament within two weeks. The Congress had finished as the second largest party in Lok Sabha and was trying to forge a coalition with non-BJP ‘secular’ parties such as the left, Janata Dal and other small outfits. The Congress was not only surprised but upset that the President who originally hailed from the Congress and was elected to the office with its support had done the unthinkable act. At that stage of Indian politics (post-Babri Masjid demolition) BJP had been isolated as a ‘non-secular’ Hindu party and treated as a political pariah. In essence, politics was in a flux and the prospect of India having a stable government was uncertain.

It is customary for a newly sworn- in PM to make a national broadcast, very soon after assuming office for setting out his vision and agenda for the nation. During my meeting with Vajpayee, I broached this subject and submitted a draft text. He instructed me to pass it to Pramod Mahajan, who was very close to him. I followed the PM’s instructions and did not pursue the broadcast subject.

  

On the third day, I was instructed by Pramod Mahajan  to bring the official TV team to PM’s office. It was late evening. When I entered the PM’s office, he was busy discussing something with his principal secretary, B.N.Tandon. The TV and Radio recording teams began milling around in the room to set up their equipment. There were some other familiar faces from the media world who were considered close to BJP.  After some time, the PM spotted me and generally enquired whether all arrangements for the broadcast were in place. Without waiting for an answer, Vajpayee asked me: "Aapne speech dekha hai?” and gave me the folder containing the draft text. I had not seen the final version that had been given to PM, although I had given my draft to Pramod Mahajan.

On reading it, I was greatly disappointed with its contents. I submitted my view that the draft was needlessly combative: it also did not take into account the delicate political situation in which BJP was looking for allies to score a parliamentary majority. I frankly told PM that the text did not fit in with his image as a national leader, whose appeal cut across the political divide. The text had effectively reduced him to the level of a BJP PM.

Obviously, Vajpayee had not had the time to go through the text before. He took the file and spent some time in going through the draft. And then he apologized to the TV and radio teams and refused to record the broadcast that day, and asked his political advisers to rework the text. He also ensured that my inputs to be reflected in the revised version.

On the thirteenth day in office as PM, Vajpayee resigned as his government was unable to muster a majority in the Lok Sabha.

The author
sunarendra@gmail.com

Again, it is customary for an outgoing PM to broadcast a farewell message. His political advisers had presented a text to PM for the broadcast. When I took the TV team for recording his message, he asked me to read the text. It contained passages attacking political parties and did not showcase the tall leader's sagacity for reaching out to all sections, including opponents. There was no healing touch befitting an unstable national political situation that was bad for the country. After hearing my assessment, Vajpayee asked his political advisers to issue a press statement from the party office. And there was no PM's farewell broadcast.

Atal Behari Vajpayee was one wise leader who did not view professional advice through party or political prism. (Blog: (https//Spokesperson.blogspot)