A Poetic Biography of Atal Bihari Bajpai
Today India celebrates the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of our beloved former Prime Minister, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee as ‘Good Governance Day’. I have written a poetic biography of our much-loved poet, politician and the premier as a tribute to him. The following is an extract from my new book which you will shortly read.
BirthOn twenty-five December nineteen-twenty-four,
A baby was born to be a man candid to the core:
The rising son of Krishna Bihari and Krishna Devi
Belonged to his ancestral village Bateshwar in UP
From where his grandad had migrated to Gwalior.
The child grew up there to be a Sanghy pioneer.
Primary Education
Saraswati Shishu Mandir, Gorkhibara, Gwalior
Schooled the child destined to be widely familiar:
A model of the highest standards of political probity,
Constructive statesmanship and Indian diplomacy;
For over five decades a member of the Parliament
He was, revered as the politician most prominent,
Ten times elected to lower house, twice to upper,
Statesman and political thinker considered a super.
Higher Education
The promising boy graduated from Victoria College –
Of Hindi, English, Sanskrit gained good knowledge.
DAV College Kanpur made him a master politician,
A first-class in Political Science, fulfilling his ambition.
He along with his father there started doing an LLB;
He left it midway to be dedicated to Sangh devotedly.
He joined RSS in nineteen-thirty-nine as a volunteer;
Promoted to pracharak after his probation eight-year.
A Poet
He was a poet, an excellent journalist and a brilliant orator.
To beat him in debate competitions there was no competitor.
“My poetry is a declaration of war, not an exordium to defeat;
It is warrior's will to win not the defeated soldier's drumbeat
Of despair,” he said. “My poetry is not the faint voice of gloom
But from the battlefield conquering army’s resounding boom.”
A Journalist
Atal ji was the first editor of Rashtradharma; its first edition
Was published on thirty-first August nineteen- forty-seven.
Meanwhile, a weekly Panchjanya, RSS decided to bring out;
With the task of editing it entrusted this nationalist devout.
The first issue with Krishna on the cover page was printed
To promote patriotism on first January nineteen-forty-eight.
Bharatiya Jana Sangh
Following the disagreement with Pt Jawaharlal Nehru’s
Pro-Muslim policies as against Indian traditional values,
Dr Shyama Prasad, on twenty-first Oct. nineteen-fifty-one,
An alternative to Congress formed Bharatiya Jana Sangh.
Shortly after it, Atal ji joined the founding members three;
He was chosen by RSS to work as its national secretary.
An MP
Second general elections were held in nineteen-fifty-seven –
At Balarampur seat, for the first time, he came off unbeaten.
His maiden speech in Parliament impressed every member;
P M Jawaharlal declared him as the future Prime Minister.
The President of BJS
BJS won the highest 35 seats in nineteen-sixty-seven;
The congress suffered setbacks in the fourth election;
Pt Deen Dayal Upadhyay died in nineteen-sixty-eight;
As the president of BJS now Atal had to decide its fate.
Emergency
Opposition politicians were rounded up, the media gagged,
Elections suspended, civil rights curbed and RSS banned;
IN nineteen-seventy-five an emergency Indira had imposed;
Next day June twenty-six Atal ji was arrested in Bangalore.
Janata Party
Atal played a role in uniting the right wing and the centrists:
BJS, Congress O, Janta Morcha, Lok Dal and the Socialists.
On twenty third Jan, nineteen-seventy-seven, Janata Party
Was launched – one-party opposition to the congress R party.
Sixth Lok Sabha elections took place during the Emergency
In nineteen-seventy-seven between March sixteen and twenty.
Janata party to Congress handed down a startling drubbing
By two ninety-eight seats of the five forty-two seats winning.
The Foreign Minister
BJS held the foremost position, winning ninety seats.
The charismatic crowd-puller who emptied the streets
During his election campaigns was Atal Bihari Bajpai,
Famed as the pride of the nation, people’s glamour guy.
The seventy-eight-year Morarji became the Prime Minister;
The fifty-two-year Atal took office as foreign minister.
Bharateeya Janata Party
The fractious Janata Party finally collapsed in nineteen-eighty.
Bajpai proposed Jan Sangh should recast itself into a new party:
The mainstream Bharateeya Janata Party on April six was born
Of the Hindu nationalist politics age in India to mark the dawn.
A Prime Minister
Indira Gandhi sympathy wave swept the general election
Of nineteen-eighty-four; only two seats could the BJP won;
But in a decade the party expanded its power base so wide
That Bajpai served three terms as PM, pushing rivals aside:
For thirteen days in nineteen-ninety-six, from ninety-eight
For thirteen months, then a full term from ninety-nine late.
From politics in two thousand and nine but from public life
Atal had announced his retirement in two thousand-five.
A Centrist
In a party of hawks many have portrayed Bajpai as a mask;
For a hardliner to survive in coalitions was not an easy task,
Nor did the thorny forest of secular extremism let him walk,
Though, before he became an MP, Atal was himself a hawk.
Had he not bridged between the congress era and the BJP,
There would have been no Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.
Bajpai, who evolved into a pragmatist, played a crucial role
In shaping Hindu nationalist politics into a complete whole.
Awards
PM Modi recommended the Bharat Ratna for the PM former,
As he had already refused to nominate himself for the honour;
The highest civilian award was ultimately conferred on Atal jee
On March twenty-seven two thousand fifteen by Prez Mukherjee.
He had received the Padma Vibhushan in nineteen-ninety-two,
In nineteen-ninety-four the best parliamentarian awards two
Entitled ‘The Lokmanya Tilak’, ‘Pt. Govind Ballabh Pant’ Purskar,
In nineteen-ninety-three from Kanpur University a D Litt upahar.
Pokharan-II and Kargil War
A month after the Atal government returned for the term second,
India conducted a series of five nuclear tests the Pokhran second
In May nineteen-ninety-eight; a year later it fought the Kargil war
Between May to July ninety-nine. Since Atal just before it had lost
A no-confidence motion by one seat, he remained as PM caretaker
Until the NDA in October secured the majority with seats greater.
The Economy
When the Atal government fell, the economy was in strong shape;
Inflation was below 4 per cent and above 8 per cent was GDP rate;
India then had overflowing foreign exchange reserves: a testament
Is his legacy to economic growth and infrastructural development.
As the Chairman of Parliamentary Committees, foreign minster,
The Leader of the Opposition and finally as the 10th Prime Minister
His contributions to the betterment of India are immeasurable;
His efforts in shaping nation-building policies are unforgettable.
Atal’s NaMo
“Atalji,” said PM Modi, “was my ideal of politics, guru, and role model.
He entrusted me with responsibilities in Gujarat and at national level.
In two-thousand-one, he told me to go to Gujarat to be the chief minister.”
Atal Bihari was the catalyst that made Narendra Modi the Prime Minister
As he was very impressed by his election strategy and envisaged him
As his successor capable of making a tree of the plant grown by him.
-Poet Ramesh Tiwari December 2024
A baby was born to be a man candid to the core:
The rising son of Krishna Bihari and Krishna Devi
Belonged to his ancestral village Bateshwar in UP
From where his grandad had migrated to Gwalior.
The child grew up there to be a Sanghy pioneer.
Primary Education
Saraswati Shishu Mandir, Gorkhibara, Gwalior
Schooled the child destined to be widely familiar:
A model of the highest standards of political probity,
Constructive statesmanship and Indian diplomacy;
For over five decades a member of the Parliament
He was, revered as the politician most prominent,
Ten times elected to lower house, twice to upper,
Statesman and political thinker considered a super.
Higher Education
The promising boy graduated from Victoria College –
Of Hindi, English, Sanskrit gained good knowledge.
DAV College Kanpur made him a master politician,
A first-class in Political Science, fulfilling his ambition.
He along with his father there started doing an LLB;
He left it midway to be dedicated to Sangh devotedly.
He joined RSS in nineteen-thirty-nine as a volunteer;
Promoted to pracharak after his probation eight-year.
A Poet
He was a poet, an excellent journalist and a brilliant orator.
To beat him in debate competitions there was no competitor.
“My poetry is a declaration of war, not an exordium to defeat;
It is warrior's will to win not the defeated soldier's drumbeat
Of despair,” he said. “My poetry is not the faint voice of gloom
But from the battlefield conquering army’s resounding boom.”
A Journalist
Atal ji was the first editor of Rashtradharma; its first edition
Was published on thirty-first August nineteen- forty-seven.
Meanwhile, a weekly Panchjanya, RSS decided to bring out;
With the task of editing it entrusted this nationalist devout.
The first issue with Krishna on the cover page was printed
To promote patriotism on first January nineteen-forty-eight.
Bharatiya Jana Sangh
Following the disagreement with Pt Jawaharlal Nehru’s
Pro-Muslim policies as against Indian traditional values,
Dr Shyama Prasad, on twenty-first Oct. nineteen-fifty-one,
An alternative to Congress formed Bharatiya Jana Sangh.
Shortly after it, Atal ji joined the founding members three;
He was chosen by RSS to work as its national secretary.
An MP
Second general elections were held in nineteen-fifty-seven –
At Balarampur seat, for the first time, he came off unbeaten.
His maiden speech in Parliament impressed every member;
P M Jawaharlal declared him as the future Prime Minister.
The President of BJS
BJS won the highest 35 seats in nineteen-sixty-seven;
The congress suffered setbacks in the fourth election;
Pt Deen Dayal Upadhyay died in nineteen-sixty-eight;
As the president of BJS now Atal had to decide its fate.
Emergency
Opposition politicians were rounded up, the media gagged,
Elections suspended, civil rights curbed and RSS banned;
IN nineteen-seventy-five an emergency Indira had imposed;
Next day June twenty-six Atal ji was arrested in Bangalore.
Janata Party
Atal played a role in uniting the right wing and the centrists:
BJS, Congress O, Janta Morcha, Lok Dal and the Socialists.
On twenty third Jan, nineteen-seventy-seven, Janata Party
Was launched – one-party opposition to the congress R party.
Sixth Lok Sabha elections took place during the Emergency
In nineteen-seventy-seven between March sixteen and twenty.
Janata party to Congress handed down a startling drubbing
By two ninety-eight seats of the five forty-two seats winning.
The Foreign Minister
BJS held the foremost position, winning ninety seats.
The charismatic crowd-puller who emptied the streets
During his election campaigns was Atal Bihari Bajpai,
Famed as the pride of the nation, people’s glamour guy.
The seventy-eight-year Morarji became the Prime Minister;
The fifty-two-year Atal took office as foreign minister.
Bharateeya Janata Party
The fractious Janata Party finally collapsed in nineteen-eighty.
Bajpai proposed Jan Sangh should recast itself into a new party:
The mainstream Bharateeya Janata Party on April six was born
Of the Hindu nationalist politics age in India to mark the dawn.
A Prime Minister
Indira Gandhi sympathy wave swept the general election
Of nineteen-eighty-four; only two seats could the BJP won;
But in a decade the party expanded its power base so wide
That Bajpai served three terms as PM, pushing rivals aside:
For thirteen days in nineteen-ninety-six, from ninety-eight
For thirteen months, then a full term from ninety-nine late.
From politics in two thousand and nine but from public life
Atal had announced his retirement in two thousand-five.
A Centrist
In a party of hawks many have portrayed Bajpai as a mask;
For a hardliner to survive in coalitions was not an easy task,
Nor did the thorny forest of secular extremism let him walk,
Though, before he became an MP, Atal was himself a hawk.
Had he not bridged between the congress era and the BJP,
There would have been no Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.
Bajpai, who evolved into a pragmatist, played a crucial role
In shaping Hindu nationalist politics into a complete whole.
Awards
PM Modi recommended the Bharat Ratna for the PM former,
As he had already refused to nominate himself for the honour;
The highest civilian award was ultimately conferred on Atal jee
On March twenty-seven two thousand fifteen by Prez Mukherjee.
He had received the Padma Vibhushan in nineteen-ninety-two,
In nineteen-ninety-four the best parliamentarian awards two
Entitled ‘The Lokmanya Tilak’, ‘Pt. Govind Ballabh Pant’ Purskar,
In nineteen-ninety-three from Kanpur University a D Litt upahar.
Pokharan-II and Kargil War
A month after the Atal government returned for the term second,
India conducted a series of five nuclear tests the Pokhran second
In May nineteen-ninety-eight; a year later it fought the Kargil war
Between May to July ninety-nine. Since Atal just before it had lost
A no-confidence motion by one seat, he remained as PM caretaker
Until the NDA in October secured the majority with seats greater.
The Economy
When the Atal government fell, the economy was in strong shape;
Inflation was below 4 per cent and above 8 per cent was GDP rate;
India then had overflowing foreign exchange reserves: a testament
Is his legacy to economic growth and infrastructural development.
As the Chairman of Parliamentary Committees, foreign minster,
The Leader of the Opposition and finally as the 10th Prime Minister
His contributions to the betterment of India are immeasurable;
His efforts in shaping nation-building policies are unforgettable.
Atal’s NaMo
“Atalji,” said PM Modi, “was my ideal of politics, guru, and role model.
He entrusted me with responsibilities in Gujarat and at national level.
In two-thousand-one, he told me to go to Gujarat to be the chief minister.”
Atal Bihari was the catalyst that made Narendra Modi the Prime Minister
As he was very impressed by his election strategy and envisaged him
As his successor capable of making a tree of the plant grown by him.
-Poet Ramesh Tiwari December 2024
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