Jaitley’s tribute: Democrat with liberal political bent

Determination was an essential part of late prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s political journey and both Pokhran and Kargil were high points of that journey, union minister Arun Jaitley wrote in a blog on Friday.

Vajpayee was PM when India carried out nuclear tests in Pokhran in 1998, for the first time in almost a quarter of a century. In the following year, India and Pakistan were involved in a conflict in the Kargil heights of Kashmir, when the Indian armed forces recaptured most of the positions taken by Pakistani troops and infiltrators.

“The Nuclear Test in 1998 was a defining moment of his government,” Jaitley wrote in a blog. Vajpayee went out of the way to work for peace with Pakistan but inflicted a severe blow to it in Kargil, when the need arose, Jaitley said.

Someone who worked very closely with Vajpayee in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Jaitley described the former Prime Minister as a “democrat” with a liberal political bent.

“He accepted criticism,” Jaitley wrote, adding that Vajpayee valued consensus and bore no malice. “He communicated even with those who disagreed.”

These qualities added to Vajpayee’s charisma and his credibility was his greatest asset, Jaitley wrote.

The minister credited Vajpayee with creating, in an era dominated by the Nehruvian Congress, a political party that was an ideological alternative to the Congress, disagreed on various issues with the Congress, took the Congress head-on, struggled for almost five decades and in the last two decades not only became an alternative to the Congress but overtook it.

“Atalji ran a marathon,” Jaitley said. “He was a patient runner.”

But for Vajpayee, LK Advani and others, Jaitley said, Indian democracy would have looked different – dominated by one party, one family with a lot of scattered smaller parties. “That did not happen. Atalji and his colleagues made the difference.”

Vajpayee was a wordsmith, Jaitley said, and could use his felicity of language to get out of any challenging situation.

“His oration was always blended with humour. His ability for an instant response was unmatched. His choice of words, his turn of phrases, the poetry that he injected in his expression, gave him the ability to even explain the most complicated issue in a simple language,” Jaitley wrote.

Vajpayee had the ability to rise above partisan interests which he displayed by strongly standing behind the Congress government during the 1971 war with Pakistan, he wrote.

The minister recalled Vajpayee’s contribution to shaping the Jana Sangh and its latter avatar, the BJP, and despite the initial isolation and a poor show in 1984, when the BJP could win just two Lok Sabha seats, he along with Advani and others brought the party to the centrestage of Indian politics by winning 183 seats in 1998.

“Along with Advaniji, he created second line leaders both in the Center and the States,” Jaitley wrote, and recalled that Vajpayee was always open to ideas, gave priority to national interests, was always at ease in dealing with both friends and opponents and never allowed himself to get into any petty controversy. “He had no personal enemies since he spoke mostly on issues rather than individuals.”

Jailtey called Vajpayee a “liberalizer” on the economic front. National highways, rural roads, better infrastructure, a new and pragmatic telecom policy, and a new electricity law were evidence of this, he wrote.

“In any intra-Governmental debate, his nod inevitably was for the liberal economic view. He corrected the foreign policy imbalance in the changed global environment,” he wrote.

Vajpayee’s cabinet meetings lasted for hours, and ministers in his government still occasionally speak about the quality of snacks served in those meetings, Jaitley wrote.

“He even loved to experiment (with) foods when he travelled internationally,” he said.

NEWDELHI: The Nuclear Test in 1998 was a defining moment ... He went out of the way to work for peace with Pakistan but inflicted a severe blow to it in Kargil, when the need arose

ARUN JAITLEY, Union minister Shri Vajpayee was a towering figure in our national life... He was a spellbinding orator, a leader of great vision, a patriot to the core for whom the national interest was paramount.

SONIA GANDHI, UPA chairperson