The charismatic loner: Vajpayee had 1 foot inside RSS, 1 outside

This article originally appeared in the issue of THE WEEK dated May 19, 1996

THE paradox of Atal Bihari Vajpayee is not easy to explain. He has been the brightest star on the RSS firmament throughout the post-Independence era. And yet, he is least representative of the archetypal RSS worker. As a close associate of his put it, Vajpayee has always had "one foot in the organisation and one outside", never hesitating to transgress the RSS and BJP line on various issues if he felt it was in the national interest to do so.

Others in the RSS-Jana Sangh-BJP family may have wielded more power at times: Balasaheb Deoras, for instance, or Nanaji Deshmukh. But none possessed Vajpayee's charisma, or mass leader attributes. There were other stars too when he first rose, but they faded too soon: Shyama Prasad Mookherjee died of a heart attack in 1952, and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya was murdered in 1968.

Rival stars did threaten to outshine Vajpayee, but they lacked his staying power: Balraj Madhok in the sixties, who finally got himself expelled and Lal Krishna Advani in the nineties, who slipped and fell into the hawala mire. Even so, it can be questioned whether they ever really challenged Vajpayee's pre-eminence. As Pramod Mahajan, widely perceived as an 'Advani supporter", said, "Had a chance ever arisen of the BJP coming to power at the Centre at any stage in the past, our candidate for prime minister would always have been Vajpayee."

The very first time he entered the Lok Sabha following the 1957 election—he was just 30 then—Vajpayee was made leader of the Jana Sangh parliamentary party, a position he held till 1977 when the Jana Sangh merged into the Janata Party. In between, from 1968 to 1973, Vajpayee was Jana Sangh president as well. In the Janata Party government, he held the plum external affairs portfolio.

After the BJP was formed in 1980, Vajpayee has been its parliamentary party leader virtually throughout. He has been elected six times to the Lok Sabha—in 1957, 1967, 1971, 1977, 1980 and 1991—and twice to the Rajya Sabha—in 1962 and 1986.

There have been reverses, too, in his long career. In 1955, his first attempt to enter Parliament through a byelection from Lucknow came to nought: in 1957, though he contested from three constituencies—Balrampur. Lucknow and Mathura—only the first returned him. In 1962, the same Balrampur rejected him. Facing the formidable Madhavrao Scindia at Gwalior in 1984, Vajpayee too was washed away by the Indira Gandhi assassination sympathy wave and December 1984 was his darkest hour when the BJP, under his leadership, plummeted to a mere two seats in Parliament. Yet despite his iconoclasm, even these setbacks could not keep him down for long.

Vajpayee has never shied away from expressing his differences within the party and the parivar line publicly. The most recent instance was the demolition of the Babri Masjid, over which he expressed his genuine anguish immediately, unlike all other BJP leaders. Yet another notable occasion was the Bangladesh War of 1971, when his fulsome praise for Indira Gandhi's role, both in Parliament and in a letter he wrote to her. deeply embarrassed the party.

At the Bhagalpur session of the Jana Sangh in 1972, even though Vajpayee was party president, some members sought to have him chastised for his statements. But the RSS leadership has invariably continued to tolerate Vajpayee's unconventional outlook, completely at odds with the iron discipline it usually imposes on its members. Why?

"One reason could be that there are no ulterior motives behind Vajpayeeji's statements," suggested Dinanath Mishra, journalist and close Vajpayee associate. "All through his career, he has never sought to cultivate a coterie or faction in his support. When he differs, everyone knows he is merely expressing his opinion and not seeking to undermine someone else." Another reason could well be that it suits the RSS parivar to have Vajpayee express his 'differences', as it projects a liberal face of the BJP.

"Vajpayee's acceptability is greater than that of his party," noted Mishra. "Even those who may disapprove of the BJP's politics have a kind word for Vajpayee. On the contrary, there are lots of people who support the Congress, but don't want Narasimha Rao!"

Besides, there is the legendary Vajpayee charisma, his sheer persuasive powers and his marvellous oratory. "Only Vajpayee could have saved the situation in Gujarat," noted a senior BJP leader. "He commands so much respect that even Shankersinh Vaghela could not remain obdurate," he added. Of course, Vajpayee had to be cajoled a great deal to involve himself at all.

"He is always shying away from extra responsibility," remarked a party leader. "He is the ladla beta (pet offspring) of the party, who has to be flattered and persuaded every time."

The story is told of how, following the then Jana Sangh president Deen Dayal Upadhyaya's death in February 1968, Vajpayee, instead of jumping at the opportunity, at first burst into tears and baulked at the idea of succeeding Upadhyaya as Jana Sangh president! But, as usual, he was made to change his mind.

Vajpayee's oratory, of course, has always been his greatest trump card. “He had that skill right from the start," maintained K.R. Malkani, who has known him for nearly 50 years.

"In fact, I feel he was an even better speaker then than he is now, because the Jana Sangh was not a major political player at that time, and he could speak freely. Nowadays, he has to be more careful!"

"He understands crowd psychology very well,' said Mishra. "He is able to strike an instant rapport."

Mishra recalled an occasion in the early sixties when the Jana Sangh, contesting the municipal elections in Jaipur, was not too happily placed. "Then Vajpayee came to speak. He arrived four hours late. The crowd was restive. As he rose, he was offered the customary garland. He took it off, flung it into the crowd, saying, “Main bar nahi. jeet lene aya boon. The pun on the word har (which stands for both 'garland' and 'defeat') electrified the crowd, and changed its mood completely."

Vajpayee had a normal middle class childhood, and took his BA from Victoria (now renamed Laxmibai) College in Gwalior and MA from the D.A.V. College. Kanpur. The only interruption came with his involvement in the Quit India struggle in 1942, when despite being a minor, Vajpayee's activities led to him being jailed for 24 days. "In those days. Vajpayeeji has told me that apart from being drawn towards the RSS, he had links with the Congress freedom fighters, the Students Federation of India (SFI) and the Arya Samaj as well," said Malkani. Ultimately, it was the RSS that prevailed.

Quitting midway the LLB course he had been studying for in Kanpur, Vajpayee plunged full time into RSS activities. First stop was Sandila near Lucknow, where he did social work. Soon, his literary skills were taken note of, and he was sent to Lucknow to edit the RSS newspaper Rashtra Dharm. When Panchajanya was founded, Vajpayee became its first editor. Times turned tough in 1948 when the RSS was briefly banned, the Rashtra Dharm office sealed and many of its employees were arrested.

Vajpayee however escaped to Allahabad where he started another newspaper Dainik Swadesh. When this too was sealed, he escaped to Varanasi and started Chetna. It was in 1950 that he first arrived in Delhi to edit Veer Arjun. "He used to live at the office, often sleeping on a charpoy," recalled Malkani.

His political career began in earnest when he became Shyama Prasad Mookherjee's secretary, accompanying the latter on the fateful trip to Kashmir, which led to Mookherjee's arrest and subsequent death in custody. "Both Guru Golwalkar and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya saw great promise in Vajpayee, and were very fond of him," said Malkani.

As a first-time MP in 1955, he needed help, which was provided by an able young assistant named Lal Krishna Advani. Vajpayee's maiden Lok Sabha speech—on foreign policy, one of his abiding interests—impressed Jawaharlal Nehru, who referred to it repeatedly in his reply.

Unmarried, Vajpayee has lived for the last several decades in Delhi with the Kauls, a Kashmiri family he had known from his Gwalior days. Full of warmth, humour and affection, he is a favourite with the household, indulging young and old alike. Though fond of both good food and drink at one time—Vajpayee is an excellent cook—he has been forced in the last two decades to curtail his indulgence following a major abdominal surgery during the Emergency.

"He is a great pill popper," revealed one of his friends. "Wherever he travels, a sort of mobile chemists' shop travels with him." Given the hectic schedules he is still able to undertake, his health should not be a source of worry for his colleagues.