Vajpayee: The statesman who taught India to dream big | India News

Students create a large charcoal portrait of former Prime Minister Vajpayee on his birthday in Moradabad on Thursday

Atal Bihari Vajpayee was not only a politician and Prime Minister, he was also the conscience keeper of Indian democracy and a statesman who taught the nation how to combine courage with compassion, conviction with inclusivity and nationalism with humanity. His impeccable legacy continues to inspire the transformative changes being driven by the Modi government.Vajpayee’s life remains a guide for all who believe that governance can be effective, corruption-free and rooted in concern for the common man. Appropriately, his birthday, December 25, is celebrated as Good Governance Day.His decency, his simplicity, his sensitivity and his poetry endeared him to people across generations. I have fond childhood memories of his regular stays at our house in Mumbai.One afternoon while I was playing marbles in the living room, he noticed that I was having trouble hitting a marble. Sitting next to me, he placed his palm on his knee and flicked a marble with his index finger precisely to hit the target nearly eight feet away. I was impressed. At that moment, a close bond developed with “Chachaji,” as we children called him.As a schoolboy, I had gone to the airport tarmac to meet him as he set off on a four-day tour of western Maharashtra. When he found out that my vacation had begun, he invited me to accompany him. I was totally unprepared but Chachaji made me feel comfortable by buying me chappals and Kolhapuri clothes at the first stop.I remember a speech he gave in Sangli in honor of the legendary Lata Mangeshkar. For almost an hour, Vajpayee fascinated the audience with his reflections on Indian culture, tradition and music – without a word about politics. It reminds you of PM Modiis Mann Ki Baat, who also rises above politics to advocate for society as a whole.Vajpayee was a deep-rooted leader rooted in the Indian ethos of civilization. He was the first Indian leader to address the UN General Assembly in Hindi, a precedent later followed by Prime Minister Modi, who uses the national language not only in multilateral forums but even in addresses to leaders of English-speaking nations.His legacy continues to inspire us. In my constituency of North Mumbai, a successful skill development and job center is named after him. This year’s budget proposed setting up 50,000 Atal Tinkering Labs in government schools to promote innovation and scientific spirit.His philosophy of strength – India conducted nuclear tests during his tenure – tempered with sensitivity is visible in Prime Minister Modi’s governance today, where decisive action to strengthen national security is matched with compassion through initiatives like free housing, toilets, food grains, cooking gas connections, health insurance and direct benefit transfers.In his I-Day address in 2000, Vajpayee declared: “Reform means improving the life of every citizen. There is no reason for anxiety or fear of economic reforms.”His government carried out sweeping reforms in banking, telecom, insurance, pensions and disinvestment of sick PSUs while expanding social initiatives such as primary education for all and Antyodaya Anna Yojana, which provided highly subsidized foodgrains to the poorest households. PM Modi is leading these and other transformation initiatives in mission mode as Reform Express.Vajpayee was clear that lasting national strength rests on robust infrastructure. Landmark initiatives such as the Golden Quadrilateral and Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana have transformed connectivity, integrated markets and brought remote regions into the national mainstream.These initiatives laid the foundation for India’s infrastructure transformation today. It was Vajpayee who realized the strategic importance of a tunnel connecting Himachal Pradesh with Ladakh and J&K. PM Modi aptly named it the Atal Tunnel in honor of the visionary.For the BJP, Vajpayee is special – a founding member and its first president. At the party’s first national congress in 1980, he prophetically said, “Andhera chhatega, sooraj niklega, kamal khilega” (The darkness will disappear, the sun will rise, the lotus – the symbol of the BJP – will bloom).For BJP, he is not just a leader of the past, he is a moral compass for the present and future. Under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership, India is achieving many of its goals – a confident, self-reliant nation that commands respect around the world.(The author is Union Minister for Commerce and Industry)