BHUBANESWAR: As the news of irreversible deterioration in the condition of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee came on Thursday morning, a visibly emotional Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik rushed to Delhi. Vajpayee had passed away by the time he reached AIIMS where the former prime minister was being treated.
Paying tributes to the departed leader, Naveen termed Vajpayee as one of the tallest leaders of the country, much loved by the people of India, more so by the people of Odisha. “It is a great national loss as much as a personal loss for me. I will always cherish my association with Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji especially as it was during my initial years in politics. He embodied a unique combination of grace, idealism and tolerance in politics. A statesman who was admired across the political spectrum - rare in politics,” the Chief Minister said.
“His depth of vision and understanding of issues were unparalleled. A man of firm principles and an idealistic poet, it is truly the end of an era... Vajpayee ji had a large heart with a special corner for Odisha - a love that was equally reciprocated by the people of Odisha...We will miss you Vajpayee ji,” he added. The former Prime Minister had a profound influence on the political career of Naveen Patnaik. For, it was under Vajpayee that Naveen made the leap from a blue-blood socialite to the dust and tumble of politics and had his grounding as a Union Minister. His traits of statesmanship and gentlemanly politics have been instilled from being closely associated with Vajpayee.
Naveen himself recalled Vajpayee’s influence on him before going to Delhi, “I served as a Cabinet Minister in his Government for two years. Vajpayee ji was a great leader and it was a great experience to have worked under him.” The two leaders shared a very close bond and openly professed their admiration for each other. While the fledgling BJD was a part of the Vajpayee-led NDA Government from 1998 to 2004, the then Prime Minister anointed Naveen as the Chief Minister candidate of the BJD-BJP alliance in the State in the run-up to the 2000 Assembly elections.
He had made the announcement during a rally in Athagarh in Cuttack district on February 16, 2000. The alliance continued for two terms from 2004 to 2009 before Naveen pulled the plug on it in the aftermath of Kandhamal riots. By then Vajpayee, battling prolonged illness, had steered clear from political life. The BJD’s distancing from the BJP notwithstanding, Naveen has never shied away from displaying his love and reverence for Vajpayee.
He has been in praise of the former PM’s ability to run a multi-party coalition successfully and promoting cooperative-federalism in the true spirit. Naveen, only last year, took time off his Delhi trip and visited the ailing leader at his Krishna Menon Marg residence. While the visit set off speculations on political realignment, he asserted that it was purely a personal visit.