Yes I am talking about Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who held the post for three terms in 1996, 1998-99, and from 1999-2004, passed away on Thursday 16th of August 2018. At the age of 93.
His long career in public life was diadem by he was being elected Prime Minister, but the course of it was pepper with long years as a parliamentarian.
He was one of the founder of the Jan Sangh, he became its president in 1968 after the death of Deendayal Upadhyaya. His efforts at a solution for issues affecting Kashmir are still the most accepted template for political dialogue. As his parliamentary career flourished, he made a name for himself as an orator and for his poetic flourishes. His poetry, collated in his book Meri Ekyaavan Kavitayein (My 51 Poems) reflect it.
The head of a coalition of political parties that were ideologically disparate whom he dealt with deftly, Mr. Vajpayee has been termed the “right man in the wrong party.”
After he lost power in 2004, he still attended Lok Sabha but gradually withdrew from public life. A stroke in 2009 saw him withdraw completely. As a staunch member of the RSS, however, this referred to his appeal across party lines and the many friendships that he cultivated through his years in Parliament. Known as much for his meaningful pauses as for his poetic oratory, he's legacy is now in the domain of history writers. What he says of himself and his long career in India’s public life is probably best encapsulated by some lines from his poem: “Kaal ke kapaal par likhta mitaata hoon, geet naya gaata hoon (I write and erase lines on the forehead of time, I sing a new song)”.
Hope his great soul may rest in peace.