Beyond Time

Atal Behari Vajpayee had dedicated over sixty years of his life in service of the country of which five decades in Parliament. He was an orator par excellence, whose speeches were listened with attention by friends and foes inside and outside Parliament, like music.

As a Parliamentarian, he used Parliament as an educational forum as well as political weapon and enhanced the prestige of the parliamentary institution. He did not mince words when criticism is due or warning necessary. But his criticism has not hurt his opponents. Narasimha Rao described Vajpayee as “one of the most outstanding parliamentarians of our time.” He has a rare sharp intellect and wit that is almost tailor-made for parliamentary debate. He used these talents with compelling effect.

Vajpayee often rose above party politics and gave primacy to national interest over political consideration. In his long parliamentary sojourns, he never jumped into the well in Parliament to make his point and always appreciated well-taken Opposition point of view.

As a Prime Minister, he also proved to be an achiever par excellence. He gave nuclear dimension to India’s military power without fear of sanctions but, at the same time, established close friendly relations with President Clinton of the US and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan. Even after the Kargil betrayal he extended the hand of friendship to General Musharraf and took steps to establish cordial relations with China and other neighbours in tune with his words, “I can change history but not geography”.

His domestic achievements included starting of highway quadrangle with rural road connectivity, Chandrayan programme, linking rivers to solve irrigation and flood problems, cheap and speedy communication system and establishing ‘Sagar Mala’ to connect 4000 km of coastline.

He made Bharat a food grain exporter, a major outsourcing country and enriched the country with over billion dollar foreign exchange reserves. However, his constructive role as a legislator is hidden in the documents of Parliament and is not so well-known.