Atal Bihari Vajpayee : Leader, administrator , orator , poet….. Tallest leader of India

Vajpayee was the tallest leader of India during last several decades. Respected by all. Non-controversial. Soft-spoken. Good orator. Good administrator who delegated powers to his ministers and did not concentrate everything in himself. His personal integrity has never been in doubt.

It was during his rule in 1998 that India formally became a nuclear power (as the 1974 nuclear test during Indira Gandhi rule was categorized for peaceful purposes).

It was during his rule (or due to his rule) that India accelerated its economic growth rates to double digits. This was the only time in the history of the independent India. If the UPA Government got high economic growth during its UPA-I rule, it was due to the efforts and policies made by Vajpayee, which took some time to produce results.

It was Vajpayee who disinvested and privatised PSUs in the real sense and in a courageous manner.

He tried to develop peace with the neighbouring nation through his famous Lahore bus visit to Pakistan and then inviting even the army-dictator of Pakistan to India – General Pervez Musharraf for the Agra summit. In fact, former Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif commented that Vajpayee was so popular in Pakistan that he could have won election in Pakistan too.

The period when Vajpayee was the Prime Minister was perhaps the golden period of India. He delivered good administration in all respects.

It was unfortunate that he could not become PM again after 2004 elections. He lost not due to poor performance but due to better coalition formation by opposition parties. Otherwise, continuation of the same positive policies of Vajpayee era could have delivered much better results for India post-2004.

Vajpayee is one of the several recipients of Bharat Ratna. But, he was a rare true and real Ratna of Bharat.

He will always be remembered as one of the ever-best sons of India.