ROURKELA: The demise of stalwart of Indian politics Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Thursday evening has left his numerous followers deeply saddened across Rourkela city. Vajpayee had a special bonding with Rourkela and had visited the steel city thrice between 1981 and 1999. The residents of the city continue to cherish the former prime minister’s extraordinary oratory skills.
Vajpayee had shaped the political career of Union Tribal Affairs Minister and Sundargarh Lok Sabha member of BJP Jual Oram. After Jual won the Sundargarh Lok Sabha seat for the second time in 1999, it was Atalji who created the Tribal Affairs Ministry and made Jual a Cabinet Minister. Jual, deeply saddened by his mentor’s death, tweeted: “We shall live with your ideals #Atal- BihariVajpayee Ji forever! You leave us sad & orphaned! Keep blessing us wherever your are.”
Rourkela’s BJP legislator Dilip Ray, who was twice the Minister in the Vajpayee Cabinet, said, “With heavy heart and teary eyes, I bid adieu to the great son of the soil”. Ray, recounting his association with Atalji, said the former prime minister had entrusted him with the task of negotiating with late AIDMK leader J Jayalalithaa and TDP leader Chandrababu Naidu. Ray said a deft politician, Atalji tackled tricky problems and difficult situations with great ease and described him as an exemplary leader with a golden heart.
Ray said Vajpayee was the first prime minister to successfully run a coalition government with inclusiveness and right balance of coalition partners. Ray remembered an incident when with serious economic slump Rourkela had earned the sobriquet of a dying city. “When I approached Atalji, he took immediate cognisance and his Cabinet approved a `9,000 crore modernistion plan for Rourkela Steel Plant”, he said. “I would ever be grateful to him for the warm affection and love which he bestowed on me”, the BJP leader quipped.