Letter to BS: Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the leader with a big heart

This refers to “The poet, the politician, the PM” (August 17). Atal Bihari Vajpayee (pictured) was popular not only for his leadership and statesmanship, but also for his personal qualities. Even those who differed with him, held him in high esteem. Vajpayee had a big heart that accommodated people irrespective of their religion, race or region. He put humanity above faith and did not besmirch his reputation with attempts to polarise people. It was not in his nature to do anything that caused divisions within the society. He was good at building consensus and that helped him in leading a coalition government.

However, Vajpayee was ambiguous on some crucial issues when he should have taken a firm stand to uphold the Constitution and secularism. Under him, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) managed to end its political untouchability and mainstream Hindutva. Perhaps this is why RSS ideologue Govindacharya described him as a mask. To his credit, it must be said that he did not subscribe to the view that the end justifies the means. Vajpayee never laboured to project himself as a larger-than-life leader. The country did not witness a centralisation of power under him. He devolved it to others to get things done. It is also a fact that the narrative of India Shining woven by the BJP to recapture power did not work and the party was defeates in 2004 despite Vajpayee’s leadership and his emphasis on rajdharma.

G David Milton Maruthancode 

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