Remembering Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee: 12 interesting facts
Atal Bihari Bajpayee
Firm and polite in his political convictions and a man of the people- Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the most beloved and respected politician in India. He was widely respected as a statesman and as a human being within the country and all over the world. He uplifted Hindi to the international platform by speaking in Hindi at the United Nations and became the first person to speak in Hindi at the United Nations. He passed away on Aug 16 in New Delhi.
Here are some interesting facts about this erudite politician:
His ancestral village is in Bateshwar, Agra and his grandfather Pandit Shyam Lal Vajpayee had migrated to Morena in Madhya Pradesh from Bateshwar in Agra.Before joining Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh (RSS), Atal was inclined towards communism and after being influenced by Babasaheb Apte, he joined the RSS in 1939 and in 1947, he became a Pracharak of RSS (technically a full-time worker).Atal was greatly fascinated with journalism and was always eager to become a journalist. He worked for Deendayal Upadhyaya’s newspapers- Rashtradharma (a Hindi monthly), Panchjanya (a Hindi weekly) and the dailies Veer Arjun and Swadesh.He was an ardent follower of Shyama Prasad Mukherjee (founder of the Bhartiya Jana Sangh) and went on a fast-unto-death along with him in 1953 to protest against the law of carrying a permit to visit Kashmir. Atal was shattered when Mukherjee died during the protest.He is known all over the world for his oration skills and when he delivered his maiden speech in the Indian Parliament, Jawaharlal Nehru (the then Prime Minister of India) predicted that someday he would become the Prime Minister of India.In 1977, he was appointed the External Affairs Minister in Morarji Desai Government and when he entered the office of Ministry of External Affairs in the South Block, he found the portrait of Jawaharlal Nehru was missing and then he said to the staff- I want it back.He uplifted Hindi to the international platform by speaking in Hindi at the United Nations, he became the first person to speak in Hindi at the United Nations.He became the Prime Minister of India for three times- first time on 16 May 1996 for 13 days only, second time on 19 March 1998 for 13 months and third time on 13 October 1999 for a full 5-year term.On 13 May 1998, he led the successful nuclear test named- Operation Shakti at Pokhran in Rajasthan and put India in the league of the world’s elite nuclear club.In order to build a strong relation with Pakistan, he took a bus journey named- Sada-e-Sarhad to Lahore on 19 February 1999.His health started deteriorating in the late 2000, He underwent a knee replacement surgery in 2001 and suffered a stroke in 2009, which impaired his speech.Although, he is a Brahmin by birth, he loved non-veg cuisines very much. His favourite non-veg dish is Prawn and his favourite restaurant is Karim in Old Delhi.
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