16 August 2018, It seemed just like some other day. Everything was normal this morning of 2018. But then, a big news appeared around 05:45 pm that ATAL BIHARI VAJPAYEE, one of the ace former Prime Minister of India and BJP stalwart has passed away at the age of 93 after being hospitalized for 2 months in AIIMS, New Delhi. He was suffering from various age-related problems. Indeed, its an “End of an Era” as quoted by our current Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
BJP National President Amit Shah has confirmed that Vajpayee’s mortal remains will be kept at the party headquarters on August 17 from 9 am for people to pay homage. The funeral procession to Delhi’s Vijay Ghat will start at 1:00 pm tomorrow. The last rites will be conducted at 4:00 pm. Vajpayee’s last rites will be conducted near Smriti Sthal on the banks of Yamuna. The memorial is the designated spot for the cremation of Presidents, Vice-Presidents and Prime Ministers.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee was born on 25 December 1924 to mother Krishna Devi and father Krishna Bihari Vajpayee in Gwalior. He was a first class degree holder in college. His first work as an activist started with Arya Kumar Sabha. He was also in Rashtriya Swayam Sevak and later became a full-time worker i.e a Pracharak. He had to give up his studies due to partition riots. He also worked for various newspapers which were daily, weekly and monthly in nature. He never married and lived a bachelor life.
Only after his brother was arrested for Quit India movement, Atal Bihari Vajpayee was introduced to politics. In the year 1953, he entered the elections for the Lok Sabha but eventually lost it. Along with various RSS and Bharatiya Jana Sangh members, Atal Bihari Vajpayee joined them in the formation of Bhartiya Janta Party. Atal Bihari Vajpayee served as the Indian Prime minister for three times. He was the 10th Prime Minister of India.
Here are some inspiring facts about our former Prime Minister Late Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee –
- He was a mesmerizing orator. His oratory skills were so fine that it impressed Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru who then had predicted that Atal Bihari Vajpayee would become Indian Prime Minister someday.
- He was the first figure to address United Nations Organization in 1977 in Hindi. He was an enthusiast of Hindi Language.
- He was adorned with the very prestigious Padma Vibhushan award by the Indian Government in 1992.
- In the year 1957, Atal Bihari Vajpayee won his first Lok Sabha elections from Balrampur in Uttar Pradesh.
- Atal Bihari Vajpayee considered Indira Gandhi as “Durga” when India routed Pakistan in 1971, even though they belonged to different parties.
- He was imprisoned in Bangalore Central Jail during the Internal Emergency situation imposed by then Prime Minister Smt.Indira Gandhi. He took care of the other inmates by cooking since he always liked cooking.
- Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the only parliamentarian to be elected from three different states namely Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, and one Union territory i.e Delhi.
- He became the Prime Minister of India three times – the first time on 16 May 1996. It was for only 13 days, the second time on 19 March 1998 for 13 months, and the third time on 13 October 1999 for a full 5-year term. He was the first non-Congress Prime Minister to complete his five-year term.
- The story of Pokhran is the story of Vajpayee’s courage. He was the Prime Minister during the first greatest Nuclear test namely Operation Shakti at Pokharan in 1998. Post this, India became a full-fledged nuclear state.
- He put the nation on the fast track with initiatives like the Golden Quadrilateral project, the New Telecom Policy, the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan, Privatisation, Science and Research, and the Fiscal Responsibility Act.
- Atal Bihari Vajpayee announced his retirement from active politics in 2005 after his health started deteriorating immensely. He also had a stroke attack in 2009 which leads to loss of speech and subsequently causing dementia.
- He was also awarded by India’s highest civilian award Bharat Ratna in the year 2014.
- Atal Bihari Vajpayee was a passionate and thoughtful writer who wrote various books such as Meri Sansadiya Yatra, Sankalp Kaal, Mrityu Ya Hatya etc.
- Atal Bihari Vajpayee has been greatly influenced by the works of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Sarat Chandra Chatterjee, Munshi Premchand and Maithili Sharan Gupt. He was a great poet himself. His oratory skills were greatly appreciated by politicians from even other parties.
One such example of his skill is quoted below.
खून क्यों सफेद हो गया?
भेद में अभेद खो गया.
बंट गये शहीद, गीत कट गए,
कलेजे में कटार दड़ गई.
दूध में दरार पड़ गई.
खेतों में बारूदी गंध,
टूट गये नानक के छंद
सतलुज सहम उठी, व्यथित सी बितस्ता है.
वसंत से बहार झड़ गई
दूध में दरार पड़ गई.
अपनी ही छाया से बैर,
गले लगने लगे हैं ग़ैर,
ख़ुदकुशी का रास्ता, तुम्हें वतन का वास्ता.
बात बनाएं, बिगड़ गई.
दूध में दरार पड़ गई.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee was an orator, a poet and a politician but most importantly, he was a great personality who was righteous and humble in nature. He was a monumental figure in both BJP and India’s political landscape. Such personalities are born in an era. Its a great loss for India to lose one of its precious gems. The love and dedication he had for India are truly patriotic. He would never be forgotten from the glorious pages of Indian history.
महानायक महाप्रयाण लेने को है,
बिदाई की बेला है आंखे नम होनी स्वाभाविक है,
पूरा देश थम सा गया है, प्रार्थनाओं का दौर शुरू है,
पूरा देश सजदे में झुक गया है,
ऐसी जिंदगी बिरलों को ही मिलती है,
हे महानायक!! आप अजातशत्रु हैं,
अटल कहीं जाते नही, अटल अजर अमर हैं,
जो हमारा आत्मबल है, वो सिर्फ और सिर्फ़ अटल है ।
“I dream of an India that is prosperous, strong and caring. An India, that regains a place of honour in the comity of great nations.”
–Late Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee
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