Andalib Akhter / NEW DELHI
AN all-party prayer meeting was organised in the memory of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee at Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium here Monday. Leaders from different political and social organisation paid rich tribute to the departed leader while remembering his services to the nation.
Addressing the condolence meet meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that due to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, terrorism became an important issue at the world stage. He said, when India was being cornered on the Kashmir issue, it was Atal Bihari Vajpayee who changed the narrative.
He said, the efforts of the former Prime Minister ensured India to become a nuclear power and he attributed the Pokhran tests of 11th May 1998 to the brilliance of the scientists. Mr Modi said, two days later, India tested again and showed what a strong political leadership can do. The Prime Minister said, like his name, Atalji never buckled under pressure. Mr Modi said, Atalji entered politics when only one party held sway over the political discourse. He said, Atalji spent several years in Opposition but never compromised on his ideology.
Speaking about wrestler Bajrang Punia who won the 1st Gold for India in the Asian Games 2018 and dedicated the medal to the departed leader, Mr Modi said, he does not think Bajrang would have had the opportunity to closely interact with Atal Ji but such is Atal Ji’s respect that every Indian is inspired by him.
Senior BJP leader and a long time friend LK Advani in a choked voice narrated his close association with the departed leader. Mr Advani said, during his 65 years friendship with Vajpayee, he learnt many things from him.
Paying rich tributes to former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said the distance seen between the ruling party and the Opposition today was not there earlier and the late BJP stalwart worked taking everyone along.
Azad said Vajpayee had brought together leaders cutting across ideological divides even in his death which, he added, was something rare.
Azad recalled that as the parliamentary affairs minister during the PV Narasimha Rao-led government, he had to meet Vajpayee, then a key Opposition leader, several times a day during Parliament’s sessions and they used to have tea and meals together.
“The distance we see today was not there then,” he said, apparently referring to the frosty relations between the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Opposition.
Azad said many people in Vajpayee’s party (BJP) might not have seen him as closely as leaders like him had.
Paying his tributes, BJP president Amit Shah said, it is not possible to fill the vacuum which has been created in the social life of the country after the demise of Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He said, every worker of the Bharatiya Janata Party will work on the same ideology which the departed leader lived his entire life.
Speaking on the occasion, former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Farooq Abdullah said: “He was large-hearted. No one had a heart like him. (Woh Wazir-e-Azam nahi Hindustan ke dilon ke maalik the).
If you want to remember Atal, then built the country for love. Exchanging lovable relation would be the greatest honour to him.”
Another former CM of J&K Mehbooba Mufi said: “This was Vajpayeeji who went to Pakistan and made Musharraf sahab say that they will not use the land of Jammu and Kashmir for militancy. He was a great human being but for the people of Jammu and Kashmir, he was not less than a Messiah. He was the first Indian leader who trusted the people of J&K and whom the people trusted.”
Trinamool Congress leader Derek O’Brien said: “If you look for the definition of certain words, you have to look in the dictionary. But there’s one word you don’t need to look in a dictionary…if you look at his face you will get the meaning of the word ‘secular’… When someone passes away, people always write RIP, which means ‘Rest in Peace’ but maybe after 16th Aug 2018, RIP for this great man will mean ‘Really Incredible Person’.”
TMC was an ally in the NDA government when Vajpayee was the prime minister.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairperson Harivansh, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, AIADMK leader and Deputy Speaker Lok Sabha M Thambi Durai, LJP President Ram Vilas Paswan, BSP leader Satish Chandra Mishra, Telugu Desam Party leader YS Chaudhary, CPI leader D Raja, Sharad Yadav, TMC MP Derek O’ Brien, Akali Dal leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Shiv Sena leader Subhash Desai, Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind leader Moulana Mehmood Madani, BJD leader Shashi Bhushan Behera, Baba Ramdev and Swami Avdheshanand were among those who paid their tributes at the event.
Joined a prayer meeting for Atal Ji in Delhi this evening. Here is my speech. https://t.co/CQmGXAw1DE pic.twitter.com/2NKB1FHo2E
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 20, 2018
Another such meeting will be organised in Lucknow on August 23. The Lucknow prayer meeting will be attended by Union Home minister Rajnath Singh, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath and Vajpayee’s relatives among others.
Vajpayee passed away in New Delhi on Thursday at the age of 93. He was cremated with full State honours at the Rashtriya Smriti Sthal in the national capital on Friday. His ashes were immersed in the Ganga river at Haridwar in Uttarakhand yesterday.