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MY TRIBUTE TO SH ATAL BIHARI VAJPAYEE JI ......................

Sh. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Former Prime Minister of India is no more but his legacy is there and will be there forever. He remained on bed before death almost for a decade having a loss of memory also but he has not been out of memory of people of India. His death has refreshed the memories of Atal ji in the minds of 125 crore Indians.

                             What makes Sh. Atal Bihari Vajpayee so different ! Atal ji as Prime Minister of India practised what he preached as Leader of the Opposition. Thus he remained insulated from the vices of power during his tenure as Foreign Minister as well as Prime Minister of India. It is very simple to be Difficult but it is very difficult to be Simple. Atal ji was a simple man.  He did not hesitate to appreciate whole heartedly his antagonists if anything good was done for the country. He was full of praise of Late Smt. Indra Gandhi the then Prime Minister of India in the year 1971 when India won Indo-Pak war under her stewardship and Bangaldesh was carved out of Pakistan.

                             As Prime Minister, Atal ji chose right person for the right job. That was a reason his tenure was result oriented. Economy started galloping and Rupee became not only stronger against the Dollar but remained stable also. The inflation was reduced to in decimals. India made strides in foreign affairs, defense, infrastructure, human resource development, and technology development. Disinvestment Ministry was carved out. Disinvestment in the public sector was made to such a scale which never happened earlier and has not happened after the Vajpayee Government up till now. The disinvestment was made in such a transparent manner that no one could raise a finger to it.

                             Vajpayee Government faced many challenges but was successful in surmounting all the challenges. But there was one challenge which Atal ji invited intentionally------a decision to have a nuclear explosion which was done on May 11, 1998 in order to make India a nuclear weapon state and faced sanctions of  the majority of the countries of the world which were later on withdrawn, thus changed the chemistry of Foreign affairs. Every developed country, be it U.S.A., U.K., France or Russia started redefining its relations with India a fresh and at a enhanced scale. The relations with the neighboring countries also stepped up  to a higher level. During Vajpayee rule, India also extended a hand of friendship to Pakistan but when Pakistan tried to stab in the back of India, India paid Pakistan back in the same coin by winning kargill war. It is pertinent to note that during kargill war, U.S. President Mr. Bill Clinton invited Sh. A.B. Vajpayee for talks with Sh. Nawaz Sharriff the then Prime Minister of Pakistan but Vajpayee ji bluntly refused to U.S. President. That showed the mettle of which Sh. Vajpayee was made of.

                             Atal ji was the Chief Architect of the Akali-BJP alliance in 1997 which was restructured after a gap of sixteen years and thus gave stability to peace in Punjab. Its roots flashed back to 84-riots  when Atal ji took a bold stand against the massacre which erupted after the murder of Late Smt. Indra Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India, little caring that Bharatiya Janata Party would have to pay the price in the General Elections. Its effect was that the whole Sikh community in India started supporting B.J.P. and in 1996 when B.J.P. became the single largest party, It was Akali Dal which came first to have declared un-conditional support to Sh. A.B. Vajpayee.

                             Thus Sh. Atal Bihari Vajpayee was an institution in himself who did politics for the country whether in opposition or in power. He never did politics to gain or retain power. The Milestones of his achievements is going to be a yardstick in future  to adjudge the performance of a politician or Government. He had a multifaceted personality: Statesman, a Noble Politician, Matchless Orator, A Poet and above all a person who had heart full of human kindness. If  the first Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru is being remembered as Builder of Modern India, Sh. Atal Bihari Vajpayee will be remembered as  Builder of Powerful India.

MANORANJAN KALIA

FORMER STATE PRESIDENT B.J.P.

AND FORMER MINISTER PUNJAB