Before Kalam, there was a plan to make Vajpayee the President (file photo- Jagran)
Digital Desk, New Delhi. Abdul Kalam was elected President in 2002. At that time Lal Krishna Advani was in a very strong position in BJP and he also had the support of RSS. In such a situation, before considering the name of APJ Abdul Kalam for the presidential candidate, BJP had suggested the name of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and had talked about handing over the post of Prime Minister to Lal Krishna Advani.
In fact, a big revelation related to the 2002 presidential election has been made in the new book 'Atal Memoirs' by Ashok Tandon, who was the media advisor to former Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. According to his book, before Kalam, BJP had asked Atal Bihari Vajpayee to leave the post of Prime Minister and become the President.
However, Vajpayee rejected this proposal outright. He argued that his becoming President on the basis of majority would set a wrong precedent.
Kalam got the support of NDA
Ashok Tandon's book 'Atal Memoirs' mentions the incident that APJ Abdul Kalam was elected the 11th President in 2002 with the support of both the then ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the opposition. He worked in this post till 2007.
Before Kalam became the President, Atal Bihari Vajpayee was asked to become the President. Vajpayee clearly rejected his party's suggestion that he should go to Rashtrapati Bhavan and hand over the post of Prime Minister to his second in command, Lal Krishna Advani.
Why was Vajpayee not ready?
According to Tandon, 'Vajpayee was not ready for this. He believed that it would not be a good sign for Indian parliamentary democracy for any popular Prime Minister to become President on the basis of majority. This would set a very wrong precedent, and he would be the last person to support such a move.
According to Ashok Tandon's book, during this time Vajpayee invited leaders of the main opposition party, Congress, to build a consensus for the presidency. During this time Sonia Gandhi, Pranab Mukherjee and Dr. Manmohan Singh came to meet him. After Vajpayee officially revealed for the first time that the NDA had decided to make Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam its candidate for the presidential election, there was a brief silence in the meeting.
Then Sonia Gandhi broke her silence and said that she was surprised by his election, and that she had no option but to support him, but that they would discuss his proposal and then take a decision.
How was the relationship between Atal-Advani?
Referring to the Atal-Advani duo, Tandon wrote that despite differences on some policy issues, relations between the two leaders never deteriorated in public. According to Tandon, Advani always called Atalji 'my leader and source of inspiration', and Vajpayee, in turn, called him his 'steadfast companion'.
According to Tandon, the partnership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani has been a symbol of cooperation and balance in Indian politics. He not only formed BJP but also gave a new direction to both the party and the government. When the terrorist attack on Parliament occurred on December 13, 2001, there was a phone conversation between Vajpayee and Sonia Gandhi, who was then the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha.
At the time of the attack, Vajpayee was at his home and was watching the security forces operation on television with his colleagues. Meanwhile, a call came from Congress President Sonia Gandhi. He said, 'I'm worried about you, are you safe?' To this, Atal ji replied, 'Sonia ji, I am safe, I was worried that you might be in the Parliament House, take care of yourself. (With inputs from news agency PTI)