House to publish rare book on Atal Bihari Vajpayee
NEW DELHI: A year after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee died, India’s Parliament will publish a book on the legendary statesman that will contain his select speeches and many rare photographs in a move that several senior officials described as rare.
Vajpayee, the first non-congress Prime Minister to complete a full term (1999-2004) in power, became a member in the second Lok Sabha in 1957 and served 10 terms in the Lower House. He also served two terms in the Rajya Sabha. He died on August 16 last year after a prolonged illness.
The book will run into at least 500 pages and contain 57 select speeches of Vajpayee and more than 200 photographs. “He had a long and brilliant career as a Parliamentarian spanning six decades. It will be difficult to accommodate all his speeches in this book. So, we are selecting 57 speeches divided into seven subjects. This will give a glimpse of his versatility,” said a senior government official who asked not to be named.
The research wing of Lok Sabha is compiling the book which is likely to be published on Vajpayee’s birthday, December 25.
According to data available with the Lok Sabha secretariat, Chandrasekhar is the only former PM on whom such a commemorative book has been published. There is also a collection of speeches of late PM Indira Gandhi, books on CPI leader Indrajit Gupta, socialists Madhu Limaye and Madhu Dandavate and communist party leadertridib Chaudhuri.
In a first, the book on Vajpayee will also contain an audio CD of some of Vajpayee’s famous speeches. “He was a gold-standard in oratory. He also had an inimitable style of delivering speeches. So, we thought it is best to have a CD for people who want to listen to his voice and enjoy the way he spoke,” said another senior official of the Lok Sabha secretariat.
Foreign affairs, nationalism and social issues are some of the subjects of speeches.
While the Lok Sabha archive had some of his photographs, especially from his days as the Prime Minister, Vajpayee’s foster family and a think-tank ‘Samagra Ataljee’ have provided many of the rare pictures. The wide range of photos includes those of his parents, a young Vajpayee, his school, college and the house where he was born in Gwalior. There will also be photos of Vajpayee with other stalwarts of the Jana Sangh and the BJP including Deendayal Upadhyay and LK Advani.
As Vajpayee was considered the best Hindi orator of his time, the book will be bilingual to contain his Hindi speeches and some translations.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has agreed to write the foreword of the book, the officials said, and Vice President Venkaiah Naidu, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and his predecessor Sumitra Mahajan will also be writing pieces. There is, however, no confirmation if any Opposition leader will be contributing to the book.
Former President Pranab Mukherjee, a close friend of Vajpayee, once said in an interview to HT that while Vajpayee’s speeches were laced with emotional appeal, the former PM also had a mastery over facts. “I remember that once I piloted the Delhi Sales Tax bill in Parliament. At that time, Vajpayee ji was not a member from the New Delhi constituency (he later represented New Delhi in 1977 and 1980) but in a masterly presentation of facts and figures, he argued that Delhi is suffering by being a centrally administered area; whereas neighbouring states have freedom to impose sales tax, it doesn’t have that advantage. I still remember that the information he possessed was much more than what was there even in my official brief.”
Former parliamentary affairs secretary Afzal Amanullah welcomed the idea of a collection of speeches of the late former PM. “This is very good and muchneeded. I hope the people who are compiling the book select some of his speeches on tolerance and communal harmony, and those in which he praised the work of previous governments,” he said.