"Padma Bhushan" Atal Bihari Vajpayee (One of the Great Politician in India) अटल बिहारी वाजपेयी

Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee was born on 25 December 1926, at Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh. He was educated at Victoria (now Laximbai) College, Gwalior and D.A.V. College, Kanpur. He holds a M.A. degree. Shri. Vajpayee has remained bachelor. He also worked as a Journalist and as a social worker. In 1942, he was arrested during the freedom movement.

He is a senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party and Indian politics in general. He has served as a member of the Parliament of India for nearly 50 years. He is also a poet, writing in his native language, Hindi.

Early political career
Vajpayee's involvement in politics began as a freedom-fighter during the Quit India Movement of 1942-1945. Later he joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), an organization propounding Hindutva, or Hindu Nationalism and considered Right-Wing in Indian politics.

He became a close follower and aide to Syama Prasad Mookerjee, the leader of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS). Vajpayee was at Mookerjee's side when he went on a fast-unto-death in Kashmir in 1953, to protest the identity card requirement and what he claimed was the "inferior" treatment of Indian citizens visiting Kashmir, and the special treatment accorded to Kashmir because it had a Muslim majority. Mookerjee's fast and protest ended the identity card requirement, and hastened the integration of Kashmir into the Indian Union. But Mookherjee died after weeks of weakness, illness and confinement in jail. These events were a watershed moment for the young Vajpayee. Taking the baton from Mookerjee, Vajpayee won his first election to parliament in 1957.

As the leader of BJS, he expanded its political appeal, organization and agenda. In spite of his youth, he soon became a respected voice in the opposition -- one of reason and intelligence. His broad appeal brought respect, recognition and acceptance to a rising nationalist cultural movement.

The Janata phase
While the Bharatiya Jana Sangh had strong constituencies of support, it failed to dislodge the Indian National Congress as the leading party in Indian parliament. Indira Gandhi's vast majorities in 1967 and 1971 further diminished other political parties.

When Prime Minister Gandhi imposed a national state of emergency in 1975, the RSS and BJS joined a wide-array of parties in opposing the suspension of elections and civil liberties. Vajpayee was briefly jailed during that period.

When Indira Gandhi called elections in 1977, the BJS joined the Janata coalition, a vast collage of regional groups, socialist, communist and right-wing forces. Janata swept the polls and formed the next government under Prime Minister Morarji Desai. Vajpayee took office as the Minister for External Affairs.

In a tenure lasting two years, Vajpayee achieved several milestones. He went on a historic visit to China in 1979, normalizing relations with China for the first time since the 1962 Sino-Indian War. He also visited Pakistan and initiated normal dialogue and trade relations that were frozen since the 1971 Indo-Pak War and subsequent political instability in both countries. This act was particularly surprising for a man perceived as a hard-right Hindu nationalist. Minister Vajpayee represented the nation at the Conference on Disarmament, where he defended the national nuclear program, the centerpiece of national security in the Cold War world, especially with neighboring China being a nuclear power. (India had become the sixth nuclear power in the world with an underground nuclear test at Pokhran in 1974) Although he resigned in 1979 when the government politically attacked the RSS, he had established his credentials as an experienced statesman and respected political leader. During this tenure, he also became the first person to deliver a speech to the United Nations General Assembly in Hindi (in 1977), the "most unforgettable" moment in his life by his own admission.

The rise of the BJP
Vajpayee resigned from government with Morarji Desai's resignation as prime minister, and the Janata coalition dissolved soon after. The BJS had devoted political organization to sustain the coalition and was left exhausted by the internecine wars within Janata.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee, along with many BJS and RSS colleagues, particularly his long-time and close friends Lal Krishna Advani and Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, formed the Bharatiya Janata Party in 1980 as the new home of Hindutva, right-wing social and economic ideas and nationalism. Vajpayee became its founding President. The BJP was a strong critic of the Congress government, and while it opposed the Sikh militancy that was rising in the state of Punjab, it also blamed Indira Gandhi for divisive and corrupt politics that fostered the militancy at national expense. Leader Darasingh opines that Vajpayee thus "brought in Hindu-Sikh harmony.

Although supporting Operation Bluestar, the BJP strongly protested the violence against Sikhs in Delhi that broke out in 1984 following the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. Vajpayee was known and commended for protecting Sikhs against Congress-followers seeking to avenge the death of their leader. While the BJP won only two parliamentary seats in the 1984 elections, in which the Congress party led by Rajiv Gandhi (son of Indira Gandhi) won in a historic landslide, the BJP however had established itself in the mainstream of Indian politics, and soon began expanding its organization to attract younger Indians throughout the country. During this period Vajpayee remained center-stage as party President and Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, but increasingly hard-line Hindu nationalists began to rise within the party and define its politics.

The BJP became the political voice of the Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir Movement, which was led by activists of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the RSS, and was seeking to build a temple dedicated to Lord Rama at the site of the Babri mosque in the city of Ayodhya. Hindu activists believed the site was the birthplace of the Lord, and thus qualified as one of the most sacred sites of Hinduism.

On December 6, 1992, hundreds of VHP and BJP activists broke down an organized protest into a frenzied attack on the mosque. By the end of the day, the mosque had crumbled to pieces. Over the following weeks, waves of violence between Hindus and Muslims erupted in various parts of the country, killing over 1000 people. The VHP organization was banned by the government, and many BJP leaders including Lal Krishna Advani were arrested briefly for provoking the destruction. Although widely condemned by many across the country for playing politics with sensitive issues, the BJP won the loyalty and support of millions of conservative Hindus, as well as national prominence.

Prime Minister of India
First Term: 1996
Political energy and expansion made BJP the single-largest political party in the Lok Sabha elected in 1996. Mired down by corruption scandals, the Congress was at a historic low, and a vast medley of regional parties and break-off factions dominated the hung Parliament. Asked to form the government, A.B. Vajpayee was sworn in as prime minister, but the BJP failed to gather enough support from other parties to form a majority. Vajpayee resigned after just 13 days, when it became clear that he could not garner a majority.

Second Term: 1998-1999
After a third-party coalition governed India between 1996 and 1998, the terribly divided Parliament was dissolved and fresh elections held. These elections again put the BJP at the head. This time, a cohesive bloc of political parties lined up with it to form the National Democratic Alliance, and A.B. Vajpayee was sworn in as the prime minister. The NDA proved its 286 vote majority in a narrow vote of confidence. Towards the end of 1998 however, the AIADMK under J.Jayalalitha withdrew its support from the 13-month old government. The government lost the ensuing vote of confidence motion by a single vote.Chief Minister of Orissa state voted in the parliment as sitting congress member. As the opposition was unable to come up with the numbers to form the new government, the country returned to elections with Vajpayee remaining the "care-taker prime minister". After the election in 1999, Vajpayee was sworn in as the Prime Minister for the third time. The coalition government that was formed lasted its full term of 5 years – the only non-Congress government to do so.

His premiership began at a decisive phase of national life and history: the Congress Party, dominant for over 40 years, appeared irreparably damaged, and fractious regional parties seemed to threaten the very stability of the nation by continually fracturing government work.

Nuclear Bomb Testing
In May 1998, India conducted five underground nuclear weapon tests in Pokhran, Rajasthan. The five tests shocked and surprised the world, especially considering that the government had been in power for only a month. Two weeks later, Pakistan responded with its own nuclear weapon tests, making it the newest nation with nuclear weapons.

While some nations, such as Russia and France, endorsed India's right to defensive nuclear power, others including USA, Canada, Japan, UK and the European Union imposed sanctions on the sale of military equipment and high-tech scientific information, resources and technology to India or Pakistan. In spite of the intense international criticism steady decline in foreign investment and trade, the nuclear tests were popular domestically and the Vajpayee's popularity and the BJP's prestige rose in response.

During his premiership, Vajpayee introduced many important economic and infrastructural reforms domestically including, encouraging the private sector and foreign investements; reducing governmental waste; encouraging research and development and privatizing of government owned corporations.

Lahore summit
In late 1998 and early 1999, Vajpayee began a push for a full-scale diplomatic peace process with Pakistan. With the historic inauguration of the Delhi-Lahore bus service in February 1999, Vajpayee initiated a new peace process aimed towards permanently resolving the Kashmir dispute and other territorial/nuclear/strategic conflicts with Pakistan. The resultant Lahore Declaration espoused a commitment to dialogue, expanded trade relations and the goal of denuclearized South Asia, and mutual friendship. This eased the tension created by the 1998 nuclear tests, not only within the two nations, but also in South Asia and the rest of the world.

The Vajpayee led government was faced with two crises in mid-1999. The AIADMK party had continually threatened to withdraw support from the coalition and national leaders repeatedly flew down from Delhi to Chennai to pacify the AIADMK chief J. Jayalalitha. Finally, in May 1999, the AIADMK did pull the plug on the NDA, and the Vajpayee administration was reduced to a caretaker status pending fresh elections scheduled for October.

Kargil Invasion
More importantly and soon after, it was revealed that thousands of terrorists and non-uniformed Pakistani soldiers (many with official identifications and Pakistan Army's custom weaponry) had infiltrated into the Kashmir Valley and captured control of border hilltops, unmanned border posts and were spreading out fast. The incursion was centered around the town of Kargil, but also included the Batalik and Akhnoor sectors and include artillery exchanges at the Siachen Glacier.

Indian army units were rushed into Kashmir in response. Operation Vijay (1999), launched in June 1999, saw the Indian military fighting thousands of terrorists and soldiers amidst heavy artillery shelling and while facing extremely cold weather, snow and treacherous terrain at the high altitude. Over 500 Indian soldiers died in the three-month long Kargil War, and it is estimated around 600 Pakistani militants and soldiers died as well. Pakistan's army shot down two air force jets. The mutilation of the body of pilot Ajay Ahuja inflamed public opinion in India. After both the United States and China refused to condone the incursion or threaten India to stop its military operations, Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif asked the militants to stop and withdraw to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Third Term: 1999-2004
On October 13, 1999, General Pervez Musharraf, chief of Pakistan's army and the chief planner of the Kargil conflict, seized power from the civilian, democratic government of Pakistan, and established his own dictatorship. On the same day, Atal Bihari Vajpayee took oath as Prime Minister of India for the third time. The BJP-led NDA had won 303 seats in the 543 seat Lok Sabha, a comfortable, stable majority, without the AIADMK.

A national crisis popped up in December 1999, when an Indian Airlines flight (IC 814 from Nepal) was hijacked by Pakistani terrorists and flown via Pakistan to Taliban ruled Afghanistan. The media and the relatives of the hijacked passengers built up tremendous pressure on the government to give in to the hijackers' demand to release certain Kashmiri terrorists, including high-ranking Maulana Masood Azhar, from prison. The government ultimately caved in and Jaswant Singh, the Indian External Affairs minister, flew with the terrorists to Afghanistan and exchanged them for the passengers. No explanation was given by the Indian government for the External Affairs minister personally escorting the terrorists. The crisis also worsened the relationship between India and Pakistan, as the hijacked plane was allowed to re-fuel in Lahore, and all the hijackers, except one, were Pakistanis.