Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the famous politician and also one of the freedom fighter died yesterday at 5:05 p.m., just a day after our Independence day. Vajpayee was one of the most influential and loved people in India. He had a beloved personality and there was no one who had not heard his name once his life. Atal Bihari Vajpayee was admitted to AIIMS with a kidney tract infection and chest congestion on June 11, died yesterday just past 5 pm. He was 93 years old. His death was confirmed by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.
Like other people, his life was not easy. He was born during the fight for freedom. He was born to Krishna Devi and Krishna Bihari Vajpayee on 25 December 1924 in Gwalior. Vajpayee did his schooling from the Saraswati Shishu Mandir, Gwalior. He subsequently attended Gwalior’s Victoria College (now Laxmi Bai College) and graduated with distinction in Hindi, English and Sanskrit. He completed his post-graduation with an M.A. in Political Science from DAV College, Kanpur, and was awarded a first-class degree.
By 1942 Vajpayee was already an active member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, though he was only 16 years old at the time. In August 1942 he and his elder brother Prem were arrested for 23 days during the Quit India Movement. He was released after giving a written undertaking that he was a part of the crowd but was not part of the militant events in Bateshwar of 27 August 1942.
In his whole career, he was arrested for more than 10 times but was not fearful of doing what he felt was right. The young generation in today’s time should learn a lot from him( no it does not mean that you should do work that sends you to jail like stealing)
The BJP grew in strength in early 1995, riding on nationalist sentiment in the country. In the 1996 general elections, the BJP emerged as the single largest party in the Lok Sabha. The then president Shankar Dayal Sharma invited Vajpayee to form the government. Vajpayee was sworn in as the 10th Prime Minister of India, but the BJP failed to muster enough support from other parties to obtain a majority. He resigned after 13 days when it became clear that he could not garner a majority.
After the fall of the two United Front governments between 1996 and 1998, the Lok Sabha was dissolved and fresh elections were held. The 1998 general elections again put the BJP ahead of others. This time, a cohesive bloc of political parties joined the BJP to form the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), and Vajpayee was sworn in as the Prime Minister.[28]
The NDA proved its majority in the parliament. The government lasted 13 months until mid-1999 when the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) under Jayalalithaa withdrew its support to the government. The government lost the ensuing vote of confidence motion in the Lok Sabha by a single vote on 17 April 1999. As the Opposition was unable to come up with the numbers to form the new government, the Lok Sabha was again dissolved and fresh elections were held. Vajpayee remained the Prime Minister until the elections were held.
Kargil War and his role
Many people might not know this but Atal Bihari Vajpayee has the biggest role in the Kargil war. It was because of Atal Bihari Vajpayee that India was able to beat Pakistan as they did. He showed immense courage in leadership and showed faith in the military and beat up Pakistan.
It was revealed that militants 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 centred around the town of Kargil, but also included the Batalik and Akhnoor sectors and artillery exchanges at the Siachen Glacier.
Indian army units were swiftly rushed into Kashmir in response. Operation Vijay, launched in June 1999, saw the Indian military fighting thousands of militants and soldiers in the midst of heavy artillery shelling and while facing extremely cold weather, snow and treacherous terrain at the high altitude. Over 500 Indian soldiers were killed in the three-month-long Kargil War, and it is estimated around 600-4,000 Pakistani militants and soldiers died as well. India pushed back the Pakistani militants and Northern Light Infantry soldiers. Almost 70% of the territory was recaptured by India. Vajpayee sent a “secret letter” to US President Bill Clinton that if Pakistani infiltrators did not withdraw from the Indian territory, “we will get them out, one way or the other” – meaning he did not rule out crossing the Line of Control (LoC), or was the use of nuclear weapons.
After Pakistan suffered heavy losses, and with both the United States and China refusing to condone the incursion or threaten India to stop its military operations, General Musharraf was recalcitrant and Nawaz Sharif asked the remaining militants to stop and withdraw to positions along the LoC. The militants were not willing to accept orders from Sharif but the NLI soldiers withdrew. The militants were killed by the army or forced to withdraw in skirmishes which went beyond the announcement of withdrawal by Pakistan. The victory in Kargil bolstered the image of Vajpayee and he was hailed across the country for his bold and strong leadership. On 26 July 2012, designated as ‘Kargil Vijay Diwas’, BJP President Nitin Gadkari unveiled a wax statue of Atal Bihari Vajpayee in Mumbai. The statue is to be put up at a wax museum in Lonavala.
The whole world is miserable on hearing the sad demise of our former Prime Minister. P.M. Modi, Sonia Gandhi, many other politicians and Bollywood actors paid tribute to him in their own ways through social media.
We hope his soul rests in peace.
