He was a poet at heart
Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee – a politician, statesman and a great orator – was a poet at heart. As a young man, he recited poems but was too shy to get it published in the magazine that he edited.
Paradoxically enough, the same shy Atal excelled in debate competitions and proved his mettle as a leader who later became famous for his oratorical skills.
Atal was shy and reluctant when his colleagues persuaded him to carry his poem ‘Hindu Tan Man’ on the front page of the launch edition of magazine ‘Rashtra Dharma’. He excelled in debate competitions as well. Once, Atal reached the venue of a debate competition at Allahabad Univer- sity a bit late. The judges were about to announce the results but Atal requested them to give him a chance.
The judges agreed.Atal mesmerised the audience and was adjudged the best speaker.
Once Atal went to cover the ‘Musalman-e-Hind conference’ for the magazine in December 1947. Maulana
Abul Kalam Azad presided over the conference organised with the government’s support in Chowk area. It was difficult to get a pass as ‘Rashtra Dharma’ was a monthly magazine. However, we were able to get a pass and Atal went to cover it. The “editor Atal” enjoyed the assignment so much that he said he would have preferred to be a reporter instead of an editor.
When Vijaya Laxmi Pandit was appointed India’s ambassador to the erstwhile USSR, her Lok Sabha seat (Lucknow) fell vacant. Atal was fielded as a candidate from the seat. A debate was organised between Atal and Triloki Singh of the Praja Socialist Party (PSP).
Atal impressed everybody and his adversaries also admitted that Atal had greater chances of winning the election. However, the Congress candidate won the election. Later, Atal silenced his critics by winning the Lok Sabha election from Balrampur in 1957.
(As told to Umesh Raghuvanshi in an old interview. Bajrang Sharan Tiwari was a close associate of former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee and chief manager of magazine ‘Rashtra Dharma’. He passed away on October 29, 2014.)