When Vajpayee declared war on inflation in Allahabad
ALLAHABAD: Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had declared war on inflation in a moving election speech in Allahabad some 60 years back, recall old leaders and residents of Allahabad.
In his address delivered on September 30, 1959 at Kalyani Devi Park of the old city area, the then MP and general secretary of Bharatiya Jana Sangh Vajpayee had held Congress responsible for the price rise, unemployment and corruption since Independence, shares Pawan Mehrotra, 78-year-old resident of Kalyani Devi locality. Recalling the speech which he had heard as an 18-year-old lad, Pawan recalled Vajpayee attacking Congress policies with clinical precision and hold it responsible for inflation and rising costs of essential items, unemployment prevailing among youth and corruption making common man’s life even tougher.
“The speech remains fresh in my mind as over the years I have seen his words being repeated all over the country by BJP leaders, including LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and even Narendra Modi till today,” shared Pawan.
“Vajpayee, in his typical style, had opposed the demand for Urdu to be made a regional language and instead has advocated Dev Nagri script being adopted as had been suggested by Rajendra Prasad ji, the then President of India,” he added.
Former state cabinet minister Narendra Kumar Singh Gaur dubs Vajpayee as a visionary and multi-facetted leader whose words could move anyone.
“He is a leader who cared for even the last person standing in a queue. I feel privileged that whenever he came to Allahabad for election campaigning, I got the opportunity to conduct his events. Be it 1996, 1998 or 2004, I got the privilege to work with him closely,” shared Gaur while sitting at his Saket Colony home near Patrika crossing.
Recalling one of his interesting interactions, Gaur said the then UP CM Mayawati had proposed that the name of Bareilly University be changed to Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Rohilkhand University. “We consulted Atalji on the issue and to ensure a balance he suggested that the Gorakhpur University then be named after Deen Dayal Upadhyay which was later accepted by all,” he added.