Atal Bihari Vajpayee
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Atal Bihari Vajpayee
अटल बिहारी वाजपेयी
Atal Bihari Vajpayee
11th Prime Minister of
First Term
In office
16 May 1996 – 1 June 1996
Preceded by P.V. Narasimha Rao
Succeeded by H.D. Deve Gowda
Second Term
In office
19 March 1998 – 22 May 2004
Preceded by
Succeeded by Manmohan Singh
Born 25 December 1924 (1924-12-25) (age 83)
Political party Bharatiya Janata Party
Spouse Single; Never married
Occupation Politician; Poet
Religion Hinduism
Atal Bihari Vajpayee (Hindi: अटल बिहारी वाजपेयी, IPA: [əʈəl bɪhaːɾiː ʋaːdʒpeiː]) (born 25 December 1924) was the Prime Minister of India, briefly in 1996, and again from 19 March 1998 until 22 May 2004. He retired from active politics in December 2005, but still comments on and participates in national debates of policy, welfare and defence.
He is a senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party and Indian politics in general. He has served as a member of the Parliament of India for nearly 50 years. He is also a poet, writing in his native language, Hindi.
Contents
[hide]
* 1 Early political career
* 2 The Janata phase
* 3 The rise of the BJP
* 4 Prime Minister of
o 4.1 First Term: 1996
o 4.2 Second Term: 1998-1999
+ 4.2.1 Nuclear Bomb Testing
+ 4.2.2
+ 4.2.3 Kargil Invasion
o 4.3 Third Term: 1999-2004
+ 4.3.1 Reform
+ 4.3.2 Attack on Parliament
* 5 Life and legacy, praise and criticism, after the 2004 elections
* 6 References
* 7 External links
Early political career
Vajpayee's involvement in politics began as a freedom-fighter during the Quit India Movement of 1942-1945. Later he joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), an organization propounding Hindutva, or Hindu Nationalism and considered Right-Wing in Indian politics.
He became a close follower and aide to Syama Prasad Mookerjee, the leader of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS). Vajpayee was at Mookerjee's side when he went on a fast-unto-death in Kashmir in 1953, to protest the identity card requirement and what he claimed was the "inferior" treatment of Indian citizens visiting Kashmir, and the special treatment accorded to
As the leader of BJS, he expanded its political appeal, organization and agenda. In spite of his youth, he soon became a respected voice in the opposition -- one of reason and intelligence. His broad appeal brought respect, recognition and acceptance to a rising nationalist cultural movement. He is considered as "The man of Honor" by his followers.
See also: Indian Nationalism, Hindutva, and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
The Janata phase
While the Bharatiya Jana Sangh had strong constituencies of support, it failed to dislodge the Indian National Congress as the leading party in Indian parliament. Indira Gandhi's vast majorities in 1967 and 1971 further diminished other political parties.
When Prime Minister Gandhi imposed a national state of emergency in 1975, the RSS and BJS joined a wide-array of parties in opposing the suspension of elections and civil liberties. Vajpayee was briefly jailed during that period.
When Indira Gandhi called elections in 1977, the BJS joined the Janata coalition, a vast collage of regional groups, socialist, communist and right-wing forces. Janata swept the polls and formed the next government under Prime Minister Morarji Desai. Vajpayee took office as the Minister for External Affairs.
In a tenure lasting two years, Vajpayee achieved several milestones. He went on a historic visit to
The rise of the BJP
Part of a series on
Hindu politics
Major parties
Bharatiya Janata Party
Shiv Sena
Hindu Mahasabha
Defunct parties
Bharatiya Jana Sangh
Ram Rajya Parishad
Ideas
Integral humanism
Hindu nationalism
Hindutva
Major figures
Bal Gangadhar Tilak
Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya
Vinayak Damodar Savarkar
Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar
Keshava Baliram Hedgewar
Syama Prasad Mookerjee
Deendayal Upadhyaya
Bal Thackeray
Related authors
B.C. Chattopadhyay
Koenraad Elst
Francois Gautier
Sita Ram Goel
K.S. Lal
Harsh Narain
Yvette Rosser
Arun Shourie
Ram Swarup
Politics · Govt of
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Vajpayee resigned from government with Morarji Desai's resignation as prime minister, and the Janata coalition dissolved soon after. The BJS had devoted political organization to sustain the coalition and was left exhausted by the internecine wars within Janata.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee, along with many BJS and RSS colleagues, particularly his long-time and close friends Lal Krishna Advani and Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, formed the Bharatiya Janata Party in 1980 as the new home of Hindutva, right-wing social and economic ideas and nationalism. Vajpayee became its founding President. The BJP was a strong critic of the Congress government, and while it opposed the Sikh militancy that was rising in the state of
Although supporting Operation Bluestar, the BJP strongly protested the violence against Sikhs in
The BJP became the political voice of the Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir Movement, which was led by activists of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the RSS, and was seeking to build a temple dedicated to Lord Rama at the site of the Babri mosque in the city of
On December 6, 1992, hundreds of VHP and BJP activists broke down an organized protest into a frenzied attack on the mosque.[citation needed] By the end of the day, the mosque had crumbled to pieces. Over the following weeks, waves of violence between Hindus and Muslims erupted in various parts of the country, killing over 1000 people. The VHP organization was banned by the government, and many BJP leaders including Lal Krishna Advani were arrested briefly for provoking the destruction. Although widely condemned by many across the country for playing politics with sensitive issues, the BJP won the loyalty and support of millions of Hindus, as well as national prominence.[citation needed]
Prime Minister of
First Term: 1996
Political energy and expansion made BJP the single-largest political party in the Lok Sabha elected in 1996. Mired down by corruption scandals, the Congress was at a historic low, and a vast medley of regional parties and break-off factions dominated the hung Parliament. Asked to form the government, A.B. Vajpayee was sworn in as prime minister, but the BJP failed to gather enough support from other parties to form a majority. Vajpayee resigned after just 13 days, when it became clear that he could not garner a majority.
Second Term: 1998-1999
After a third-party coalition governed
His premiership began at a decisive phase of national life and history: the Congress Party, dominant for over 40 years, appeared irreparably damaged, and fractious regional parties seemed to threaten the very stability of the nation by continually fracturing government work.
Nuclear Bomb Testing
In May 1998,
While some nations, such as
During his premiership, Vajpayee introduced many important economic and infrastructural reforms domestically including, encouraging the private sector and foreign investments; reducing governmental waste; encouraging research and development and privatizing of government owned corporations.
In late 1998 and early 1999, Vajpayee began a push for a full-scale diplomatic peace process with
The Vajpayee led government was faced with two crises in mid-1999. The AIADMK party had continually threatened to withdraw support from the coalition and national leaders repeatedly flew down from
Kargil Invasion
(see main article Kargil War) More importantly and soon after, it was revealed that thousands of terrorists and non-uniformed Pakistani soldiers (many with official identifications and Pakistan Army's custom weaponry) had infiltrated into the Kashmir Valley and captured control of border hilltops, unmanned border posts and were spreading out fast. The incursion was centered around the town of
Indian army units were rushed into
Third Term: 1999-2004
On 13 October 1999, General Pervez Musharraf, chief of Pakistan's army and the chief planner of the Kargil conflict, seized power from the civilian, democratic government of Pakistan, and established his own dictatorship. On the same day, Atal Bihari Vajpayee took oath as Prime Minister of India for the third time. The BJP-led NDA had won 303 seats in the 543 seat Lok Sabha, a comfortable, stable majority, without the AIADMK.
A national crisis popped up in December 1999, when an Indian Airlines flight (IC 814 from
A.B.Vajpayee meeting President Bush in the White House in 2003
A.B.Vajpayee meeting President Bush in the White House in 2003
Reform
Vajpayee oversaw his National Highway Development Project begin construction, in which he took a personal interest.
In March 2000 Bill Clinton, the President of the United States made the second visit by any American President to India and thus gave a fillip to the government. Since the visit followed barely two years after the Pokhran tests, and one year after the Kargil invasion and the subsequent coup in Pakistan, it was read to reflect a major shift in the post-Cold War U.S. foreign policy. The Indian Prime Minister and the U.S. President discussed strategic issues, but the chief achievement was a significant expansion in trade and economic ties.
Domestically, the BJP led government was under constant pressure from its ideological mentor, the RSS, and the hard-line VHP to enact the Hindutva agenda. But owing to its dependence on coalition support, it was impossible for the BJP to push items like building the Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir in Ayodhya. The BJP was however accused of saffron-ising (saffron is the color of the flag of the RSS, symbol of the Hindu nationalism movement) the official state education curriculum and apparatus. Home Minister L.K. Advani and Education Minister Murli Manohar Joshi were indicted in the 1992 Babri Mosque demolition case for inciting the mob of activists. The RSS also routinely criticized the government for free-market policies which introduced foreign goods and competition at the expense of home industries and products.
Vajpayee's administration earned the ire of many unionized workers groups and government workers for their aggressive campaign to privatize government owned corporations. Vajpayee promoted pro-business, free market reforms to reinvigorate
These couple of years of reform however were accompanied by infighting in the administration and confusion regarding the direction of government. Cabinet portfolios were created and shuffled every six months apparently to pacify restless coalition partners. Vajpayee's weakening health was also a subject of public interest, and he underwent a major knee-replacement surgery at the
In 2000, the Tehelka group released incriminating videos of the BJP President Bangaru Laxman, senior army officers and NDA members accepting bribes from journalists posing as agents and businessmen. While the scandals were not linked to Vajpayee's personally, the Defence Minister George Fernandes was forced to resign following this Barak Missile Deal Scandal, another scandal involving the botched supplies of coffins for the soldiers killed in Kargil, and the finding of an inquiry commission that the Government could have prevented the Kargil invasion. These developments as well as an ambiguous response of the economy to the reforms, reduced the Vajpayee administration's popularity and undermined its future.
Vajpayee again broke the ice in the Indo-Pak relations by inviting Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to
Attack on Parliament
On 13 December 2001, a group of masked, armed men with fake IDs stormed the Parliament building in
The Vajpayee administrations passed the Prevention of Terrorist Act against vigorous opposition of non-NDA parties. Human rights groups have condemned the act which gives wide authority to the government to crack down and hold anybody. Its repelling was advocated by human rights organisations. [2]
But the biggest political disaster hit between December 2001 and March 2002: the VHP held the Government hostage in a major standoff in Ayodhya over the Ram temple. At the 10th anniversary of the destruction of the Babri mosque, the VHP wanted to perform a sheela daan, or a ceremony laying the foundation stone of the cherished temple at the disputed site. Tens of thousands of VHP activists amassed and threatened to overrun the site and forcibly build the temple. A grave threat of not only communal violence, but an outright breakdown of law and order owing to the defiance of the government by a religious organization hung over the nation.[citation needed]
Just a week following the standoff, a train carriage carrying hundreds of Hindu pilgrims returning from Varanasi were attacked by a Muslim mob in Godhra, Gujarat and the bogey was set afire, killing 59 pilgrims. Such an assault on pilgrims inflamed local Hindus engendering an episode of communal violence in which nearly 1,000 people were killed and displaced across
In late 2002 and 2003 the government pushed economic reforms, and the country's GDP growth accelerated at record levels, exceeding 6-7%. Increasing foreign investment, modernization of public and industrial infrastructure, the creation of jobs, a rising high-tech and IT industry and urban modernization and expansion improved the nation's national image. Good crop harvests and strong industrial expansion also helped the economy. The Government reformed the tax system, increased the pace of reforms and pro-business initiatives, major irrigation and housing schemes and so on. The political energies of the BJP shifted to the rising urban middle-class and young people, who were positive and enthusiastic about the major economic expansion and future of the country.
In August 2003, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee announced before Parliament his "absolute last" effort to achieve peace with
In November-December 2003, the BJP won three major state elections, fought mainly on development issues, without ideological campaigns. A major public relations campaign was launched to reach out to Muslims and stop the 2002 controversies from haunting the party's future. But the attention of the media and of millions now moved from Vajpayee to his more possible successor, L.K. Advani, although the question was never directly raised or contested in any way. Vajpayee's age, failing health and diminished physical and mental vigor were obvious factors in such speculations. Advani assumed greater responsibilities in the party, and although no perceivable conflict has been known to arise between the longtime friends and political colleagues, several embarrassing statements were made. Once Vajpayee said "Advani would lead the BJP in the elections," prompting Advani to clarify that he would merely lead the election campaign, not the party. And then the BJP President Venkiah Naidu used mythological references to depict Vajpayee as a Vikas Purush, (Man of Progress), comparing him toBhishma Pitamah of the Mahabharata epic, a man respected by all political outfits and hundreds of millions of people. Advani was called the "Loh Purush" (Iron Man), a more potent reference suggestive of future developments.
As the BJP prepared for general elections in 2004, either early or late, Vajpayee was still the choice of the BJP, and crucially of the wider NDA for the prime minister's job.
Life and legacy, praise and criticism, after the 2004 elections
A.B. Vajpayee's BJP and the National Democratic Alliance were expected to pick up more seats and score a major victory in the 2004 elections. The parliament was dissolved earlier than necessary in order to capitalize on the national economic boom and improved security and cultural atmosphere.
A vigorous BJP campaign did its best to highlight the major progress achieved, and win the votes of the traditionally averse Muslims for the BJP candidates. Controversial and ideological issues were side-stepped in favor of bread-butter economic issues. But by the time the first three phases of voting were over, it was clear that the BJP was losing too many important seats to retain a formidable position in Parliament. The BJP and its flagship coalition, the NDA, lost almost half their seats in parliamentane several prominent cabinet ministers were defeated, and regional, socialist and Communist parties quickly grouped round the resurgent Indian National Congress led by Sonia Gandhi to form a left-of-center United Progressive Alliance, which formed the government under Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh.
The fact that Vajpayee attended the swearing-in of the new government despite his party's decision to boycott it symbolized the growing acrimony to come. Many criticized Vajpayee for sacrificing core issues like Hindutva and the Ram Temple, and going overboard to woo Muslims (the BJP lost the Muslim vote by a heavy margin), and even moving too early to elections. The pro-Vajpayee activists accused Narendra Modi's controversial regime in
A.B. Vajpayee expressed his anger and frustration with repeated signals of resignation and retirement. But at a high-level party meeting, he decided to give up the position of the Leader of the Opposition to his long-time friend, second-in-command and successor, Lal Krishna Advani, who also became BJP President. Always a figure of consensus, Vajpayee became Chairman of the National Democratic Alliance. It is a widespread feeling with critics, journalists and many people that Vajpayee's time at the pinnacle of national politics and the BJP, and his position as the obvious BJP choice for Prime Minister is steadily fading. Vajpayee himself is taking more backseat roles and responsibilities, and his health ailments limit his ability to deal with the premier position in national life.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee's six years at the Prime Minister's Office led to a major transformation and expansion of the national economy. In the 1999 Kargil War, his leadership defended the country's integrity and security, while his broad-minded statesmanship in 1999, 2001 and 2004 kept the country's safety, peace and future on the high-course despite many discouraging events, failures and threats. During his 50 years as Member of Parliament, Vajpayee has established impeccable and virtually infallible credentials as a man of principle, integrity and commitment in the world of Indian politics, and as a leading visionary and statesman of the world.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee sowed the seeds and rose with the growing nationalist movement in Indian politics. For four decades he was the flag-bearer, icon and undisputed leader of the Hindu nationalist political movement, working steadily through years of defeat and desolation to foster a major national movement, broad support amongst hundreds of millions and the leadership of the world's largest democracy and most diverse nation.
Vajpayee's government is criticized over its ignorance of the issues and concerns of
In addition, his opponents in the Congress have accused Vajpayee of having turned an approver against freedom fighters during the British regime in 1942. They have circulated certain documents in support of this accusation, and solicited testimonies. Vajpayee has denied these accusations. [3] [4] [5]
Vajpayee led a diverse, fractious coalition to complete a full five-year term in office, be the guiding light over a collage of political chaos. He gave stability and unity when the country was the least united, and security when the country was most susceptible. This included not only the security of the borders from invasion, but of the security of 100 million families with the provision of jobs and education in a solid, hopeful economic future, and the strategic national future security.
Despite the rejection of his party in 2004, Vajpayee has retained a position of esteem and respect amongst common people seldom offered to politicians in
In December 2005, Vajpayee announced his retirement, declaring that he would not participate in the next general election. At a rally in the western city of
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