Close aides recall Vajpayee, the foodie PM

NEW DELHI: As the entire political fraternity bid adieu to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, officials, friends, journalists and people who knew him for the last nearly 15 years when he was majorly paralysed were also present to see their favourite leader wrapped in the Indian tricolour.

“He had a great taste for non-vegetarian food, fish was his favourite. If he got to know any journalist is going to Kolkata, he would definitely ask them to bring Rasgulla,” said a journalist well acquainted with Vajpayee.

As Vajpayee breathed his last on Thursday, many close aides and journalists recalled his craving for kababs and fondness for gastronomical delights, particularly sweets and seafood, with his favourite being a platter of prawns.

Senior journalist Rasheed Kidwai remembered how while attending an official lunch, Vajpayee, then the prime minister, was headed for the food counter even though he was on a strict diet. Anxious aides then struck a plan to keep him away from the mouth-watering delicacies.

Those close to him recalled how Vajpayee relished every meal he ate. Another senior journalist said that on numerous occasions, he and his fellow journalists were treated to dishes cooked by Vajpayee himself.

“He would cook at least one dish for us. It could be a dessert or something non-vegetarian,” she recalled.

A close aide said that Vajpayee would pop in salted peanuts throughout Cabinet meetings and wanted his plate to be refilled each time it went empty.

While Lalji Tandon, his protégé, was tasked with bring him kebabs from the Chowk area in Lucknow, Union Minister Vijay Goel brought him bedmi aloo and chaat from Old Delhi. Vice-president Venkaiah Naidu would bring him prawns from Andhra Pradesh, said a close aide. A journalist who went on trips with Vajpayee recalled how he was the “most relaxed” PM she had ever travelled with.