[five46]

As a petrol head, I will always remember Sri. Atalji whenever I hit the golden quadrilateral.

But, as a citizen, I have tremendous respect for him for popularising fundamental education thru Sarva Shikha Abhiyaan.

Also, not to forget, he completed his 5 years term by knitting a fragmented coalition. That was some achievement.

[saurabh2711]

Whatever "Hemant.Anand" has posted in his tribute needs guts to perform. We had a government earlier with even greater majority than the current one. They could have done this, they never did; except for the nuclear tests. Additionally maintaining the economy in shape during massive sanctions after the tests needed some brains & reforms to be implemented. We hit 1 Billion dollars of Foreign reserves, first time under his rules, if that is a major factor.

On top of this, discussing the sanctions with international leaders & getting most of them revoked was some phenomenon he achieved before signing off.

Wasn't he the one who gave the best possible candidate for a President's post : Mr. APJ (and probably for life).

One thing I would like to point out on your point for the Kargil "event"(NOM) - He did allowed the air support/strike in the region with a caveat that air force will not cross the LOC & all operations to be done on the Indian soil only. We could have breached LOC as well. That paid dividends later at international level.

My only wish : if We could have had another term of his & then to judge what exactly he was capable of. Government(s) after him (including the current one) is reaping some of the fruits he sowed.

I just started collage back then, with nearly no interest in politics. All that is written above were heard during his tenure at Delhi. I simply use to compare what he used to do & what the CM of my state used to do. Though not correct yard stick to judge, but had no choice. Hence his admirer.

Also, please refer to the third quote by smartcat (few posts above yours). That might prove the political & social stature he had.

I sincerely hope I have not written this too political (against the forum rules) & calls for deletion.

RIP Sir.

[Samurai]

It is hard to go into details without getting the thread political, so we shall avoid it.

1) Kargil was not a minor engagement. It was a mini war that involved so many battles. Keep in mind that any modern war has 3 fronts, the military, diplomatic and propaganda. Only the side that wins all the 3 can claim victory. US lost Vietnam war because they couldn't win on diplomatic and propaganda front. India won on 3 fronts in both Kargil and Bangladesh war. And Indian military is firmly in the control of civil administration. So the PM at the time of a victory can claim the credit, as the PM controls all three.

2) India did have the nuclear ability for decades before 1998. But the political will to come out of the closet and declare itself a nuclear power, did not materialize until Vajpayee become PM. That is why he gets the credit for it.

3) The credit for Golden quadrilateral, I guess that one is not under dispute.

[blacksport]

Coming from the group which did not produce many "statesmen", Vajpayee would come across as a gem, but Vajpayee did have his share of "Aag lagayi kisne? Aag faily kaise?".

But yes, I would any day prefer him holding the reigns, than that a guy who thinks that global warming is when your body's tolerance to heat goes down, or you can keep a pot in the sewage and harvest methane.

[Nav-i-gator]

Anyways, my earliest clear memory of ABV ji is his speech during no confidence motion (when he lost by 1 vote). A speech by one of the last breed of politicians, who, irrespective of ideologies, stood by their principles. He was visibly upset and probably deeply hurt by what conspired there, he gave a fiery speech which was, to me, the best I heard of him. I was moved to tears then (I was about 12 then), and I was in tears yesterday. He was the first and last of political figures whom I genuinely admired.

[sreeramkvs]

He shall be remembered for pioneering the road connectivity to innumerable villages as much he is for golden quadrilateral. I have seen so many villages getting prosperous post this infrastructure development. I am told folks from rural odissa still remember this.

[bigron]

The greatest of them all in the post independence era has now left us. This man believed in service , development and camaraderie. I had the pleasure of interacting with him on numerous occasions in late 80's and early 90's and among his many virtues two things that really stood out were his immense dedication to human good and amazing intelligence.
Two lines written by him sums up his life.

"Mujhe itni oonchaai kabhi mat dena,
Gairon ko gale na lagaa sakoon,
Itani rukhaai kabhi mat dena."

[.sushilkumar]

Personally i have admired only 2 PM's in independent india. One is PVN Rao & Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Unfortunately both are no more. While, we as nation never give whats due to PVN Rao, I am glad at least Mr Vajpayee got what's due to him.

May they both Rest in Peace. Surely india lost a great Son yesterday.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoAa-ca3MsY

[Vishal.R]

If somebody wants to understand Mr Vajpayee’s personal strength, some of the messages (despite accepting Rule #13 before membership approval) in this thread itself are examples.

He was a career politician who worked entirely with a single party and also a devout cadre of an organization, but still he was able think above politics and able to communicate / engage/ work with people with different ideologies / from different parties / organizations. Just search on google for tributes by Mr. Pranab Mukherjee, Mr. Mani Shankar Iyer, Mr. Salman Khurshid and many other such persons and also about his interaction with other stalwarts like Mr. Nehru, Mr. PV Narsimha Rao, Mr. Somnath Chatterjee etc.

[sasi@8689]

The actual Kargil war that took place on the ground is definitely a military action, but it needs enormous amount of political will and support from the top office of the Country, for the military to execute that. It was not only a victory of Indian armed forces, but was perceived by the outside world as a diplomatic and moral win for the country and it is in those aspects I believe, the PMO's office plays a larger role. I believe this is the very reason why he is referred to as a statesman and not just a politician. Same shall hold good for the nuclear tests as well

All said and done, I believe, he is one of the rare politicians who bought respect for entire fraternity and shall be remembered as such

[locusjag]

Not only did Shri Vajpayee oversee the Golden Quadrilateral, under his and Col.B.C. Khanduri's charge (he held the Highways portfolio in the NDA govt), the GQ was completed within budget and ahead of time.

How's that for governance? What a man!

[V.Narayan]

We are privileged to have lived in times which saw both Atalji and PV Narashima Rao as Prime Ministers - both reformers, both moderates and both experts in the statecraft of pulling together all shades and sizes under their vast umbrella. God Bless you Sir.

I have always been a vocal proponent of courtesy on social forums especially Team BHP and will continue to be so. We are fortunate we live in India and can say whatever we like whenever we wish to. Every great leader be it a PM a General or a CEO will have 5 things you can praise him/her for and six things to cut him/her down on. Whatever our political colour at a moment like this two ounces of grace is called for. Sadly at least a couple of our members have difficulty being graceful even at a moment like this.

A less known factoid is that Atalji consulted PVN extensively in the days running up to Pokhran II. Such was the respect the two great men held for each other. From what I read and heard then both were in favour of the motion. PVN had done a dry run in1996 but his Govt. did not get re-elected and the attempt got put on hold. With Atalji's passing one of our very last links to the Quit India movement on 1942 has sailed over the horizon.

[Samurai]

Members are requested not to discuss politics. - Support Team

[GTO]

R.I.P. Atalji. You, sir, have served this country!

Originally Posted by NomadicLife

He built India's most famous highway project

Only on Team-BHP will a great man be first remembered for the roads he built .

[ravradha]

Respect and regards to Atalji. RIP.