Vajpayee rejected BJP's plan to make him President, Advani PM: Book reveals all
New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): A shocking revelation has come to light regarding the tenure of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and important decisions in Indian politics. In his new book, "Atal Memoirs," Vajpayee's former media advisor, Ashok Tandon, claims that before Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam was made President, a different political conspiracy was brewing within the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The party had proposed sending the then Prime Minister Vajpayee to Rashtrapati Bhavan and handing over the Prime Minister's chair to LK Advani. However, Vajpayee not only rejected this suggestion but also termed it the beginning of a wrong tradition for Indian democracy.
In this book, published by Prabhat Prakashan, Ashok Tandon writes that Vajpayee was completely unwilling to accept this idea. He clearly believed that a popular Prime Minister becoming President solely on the basis of a majority was not good for the health of parliamentary democracy. Vajpayee argued that this would set a very bad precedent and that he would be the last person to support such a move. It was only after this rejection that Vajpayee began working to build consensus for the presidential nomination and put forward Dr. Kalam's name.
The book also recounts the historic meeting when Vajpayee first proposed Dr. Kalam's name to the opposition. Vajpayee had invited Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Pranab Mukherjee, and Dr. Manmohan Singh for a discussion. When Vajpayee announced that the NDA had chosen Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam as its candidate, the room fell silent for a few moments. Sonia Gandhi broke the silence and said she was surprised by the selection. She acknowledged she had no choice but to support the candidate, though she offered to discuss the matter before making a final decision. Ultimately, in 2002, Kalam became the common candidate of both the ruling and opposition parties.
The book also reveals the depth of the relationship between Vajpayee and Advani. Tandon writes that despite rumors of policy differences, the two leaders' relationship never publicly soured. Advani always considered Vajpayee his "leader and source of inspiration," while Vajpayee called him his "inseparable companion." Furthermore, the book shares an emotional anecdote from the 2001 Parliament attack. During the attack, Sonia Gandhi called Vajpayee and expressed concern for his safety, to which Vajpayee replied that he was safe, but was worried that Sonia Gandhi might be in the Parliament building. This incident reflects the political etiquette and human values of that era.