Gadkari recalls Vajpayee’s lesson: Minister belongs to all, not just his party
Before Kalam, ex-PM’s name was mooted for President but he declined, says his former media OSD
Followers, friends and admirers of Atal Bihari Vajpayee assembled in the Capital on Wednesday to celebrate the late prime minister’s life and times and debate the relevance of his political idealism.
The occasion was the launch of “Atal Sansmaran”, a new book on Bharat Ratna Vajpayee by his one-time media OSD Ashok Tandon, who is currently serving as the Member, Prasar Bharti Board.
Launching the book, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari remembered the life lessons he took from Vajpayee, among them the art of dignified opposition.
“Once Atal ji asked me if protesting was necessary to express dissent. He was upset that I had resorted to agitation. He taught me that there should be decency in opposition. Also Atal ji used to say that once we become ministers, we belong to everyone and not just our own party. These lessons have helped me. Today, I ensure MPs across parties are facilitated when they come to me with problems in their constituency. Only today, around 150 MPs came to my chamber with issues related to their constituency and I ensured they got resolution,” said Gadkari whose politics has been shaped in Vajpayee’s moderate mould within the Sangh Parivar.
Gadkari also spoke of how Atal Bihari Vajpayee would insist that political differences should never morph into disputes.
“Today we need to redefine our politics. Politics is seen as a power game, but it is actually a means for national revival. That is what Atal ji meant when he said once that what is important is not who will be the country’s prime minister. What is important is how the country will be,” said Gadkari, adding that Atal Bihari Vajpayee never compromised with his ideology and kept striving in the face of odds to take the BJP from a party of two MPs in 1984 to a party in power.
Speaking before Gadkari, Ashok Tandon reminisced his times with Vajpayee and recalled instances to reveal aspects of the late PM’s character.
“The year Dr APJ Abdul Kalam became President, there was a discussion in the party that Vajpayee ji should go to the Rashtrapati Bhavan. But he declined, arguing that this tradition would prove dangerous for democracy. He said a PM is a popularly elected leader and he should not use people’s mandate to become President,” remembered Tandon who spent long years in Vajpayee’s PMO. He also spoke of Vajpayee placing a premium on political courtesy.
“Sharad Pawar once invited Vajpayee ji to an event in Maharashtra. Pramod Mahajan suggested that Vajpayee ji should not go because the BJP and the NCP were rivals in the state and his visit could send across a wrong signal. But Vajpayee ji went. He did not treat political rivals as enemies,” said Tandon, at the launch of the Prabhat Prakashan publication.
