NEW DELHI: Sporting a Himachali cap, Puran Thakur was seen sitting under a tree, trying to escape the scorching sun near the BJP headquarters on Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg in New Delhi on Friday afternoon. He was part of a group of 20-odd people that had arrived from Prini village, near Manali, on Friday morning to pay their last respects to their beloved leader, Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Poet-politician Vajpayee was not just a PM for these villagers. “He was like a family member for us. He was so humble and kind. He used to sit with us, spend time with us,” said Puran Thakur, adding that Vajpayee had a residence in the village.Shiv Dayal, the village chief, said that he had come to Delhi only to pay his respects to Vajpayee. Recollecting his memories, he said, “Prini village was like his second home. Vajpayee ji used to spend a lot of time there in summers. He last visited the village in 2006. He also visited the village once or twice when he was PM. He was not able to visit during his prime ministership due to security concerns,” he added.
Anita Bhuria said that her village had become like an “orphan”.
“The whole village used to gather at his residence there. He considered himself one of the villagers. He used to pen poems there. He used to play with small kids. He also loved the local village meals. He used to come there with his daughter. He was like our guardian. We have now become like orphans,” she said, with sorrow in her voice.
Lotmal Thakur, another villager, said that his village had seen a lot of developmental works because of Vajpayee. “He used to walk around the village and we had free access to his cottage. He also visited a local school and had gifted books to children there,” he said.