‘Atal was more than a colleague, he was my closest friend for 65 years’

Mohua.Chatterjee@timesgroup.com: TOI 17.08.2018

I will miss Vajpayee immensely…” This was the first reaction of BJP veteran L K Advani, who was in public life with the late former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee for nearly 65 years.

The 90-year-old former deputy PM was speechless when he heard the news of Vajpayee’s death around 5.30pm on Thursday. Advani had visited AIIMS where Vajpayee was admitted for nearly nine weeks on Thursday morning and sat in a waiting room for an hour, along with daughter Pratibha and aide Deepak Chopra.

He remained restless and refused to meet anyone after the visit, till their former colleague and ailing leader Jaswant Singh’s wife arrived to meet him. The two shared the grief of losing their ‘Atalji’.

The pall of gloom over the Prithviraj Road residence of Advani was palpable when the BJP veteran sat down to write his condolence message.

He wrote: “I am at a loss for words to express my deep grief and sadness today as we all mourn the passing away of one of India’s tallest statesmen, Atal Bihari Vajpayee. To me, Atalji was more than a senior colleague — in fact he was my closest friend for over 65 years. I cherish the memories of my long association with him, right from our days as pracharaks of RSS, to the inception of Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the struggle of the dark months during the Emergency leading to the formation of Janata Party and later the emergence of Bharatiya Janata Party in 1980... His captivating leadership qualities, mesmerising oratory, soaring patriotism and above all, his sterling humane qualities like compassion, humility and his remarkable ability to win over adversaries despite ideological differences have all had a profound effect on me in all my years in public life. I will miss Atalji immensely.”

Later, he visited Vajpayee’s residence. In the last few years, Advani used to be among the first callers here on December 25, Vajpayee’s birthday.

BY INVITATION

His weapon was the word, not the sword

MJ AKBAR  TOI 17.08.2018

The distance between Treasury benches and its “loyal” Opposition in Britain’s House of Commons is, famously, the length of two swords plus one inch. The inference is clear. Politicians might be at daggers drawn, but democracy cannot afford drawn swords.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee would have sniffed at such political architecture. His weapon was the word, not the sword. His wordplay had the flexibility of oratory and the principles of a humanist. His language was as mellifluous as his smile; even when the cut and thrust of debate demanded a touch of verbal stiletto, it was tempered by the goodwill of geniality rather than the bitterness of angst.

Some associates disliked his overt or covert generosity to opponents. He wasn’t bothered. He could be hurt when recipients of his generosity reciprocated with malice. But this did not much bother him either. He did what he did because he believed it was the right thing to do.

Anger was part of neither his personality nor his preference. If memory serves, he was angry in public just once, at a rally in Delhi in January 1977, after 19 months of draconian Emergency during which Mrs Indira Gandhi had imprisoned India and exiled India’s democratic values. India was still numb, and depressed. No one believed that Mrs Gandhi could be defeated in the impending general election. No one knew that India was smouldering beneath a fragile surface.

On that cold January evening, Vajpayee’s speech, heavy with sarcasm, sparkling with promise, and infused with faith in the Indian people, lit the fuse that led to a revolution.

He was angry not merely because he had been sent, in a brazen exercise of injustice, to jail; or because the courts had been impaled; or because the political process had been usurped by Congress. He was angry because democracy had been grievously wounded. He was a democrat because his heart was passionate about liberty; and his head said that India, with its ancient philosophy of pluralism, could only function as a democracy. Dynasties, in contrast, believed in supremacy and exclusion; it was no accident that Mrs Gandhi began to visibly nurture a dynasty only during this obnoxious Emergency. Vajpayee’s main concern was the future of India and Indians. He was a champion of democracy because he was a servant of the people. That is the logic of freedom.

Vajpayee was not weaned on silver spoons; he wrote his own destiny. His father was a school-teacher. He was born into an emerging middle class, the backbone of India. His virtues, inherited from civilisational values, became the foundation on which he could structure his formidable talents. He did not enter politics to become prime minister of India. Even independence seemed psychologically distant when, as a student in 1942, he joined Gandhi’s Quit India movement to, in the words of the Mahatma, “do or die”. When he became a member of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh in 1951, no contemporary believed it would one day lead a national government, albeit in a slightly altered avatar. Power, when it came, was a by-product of commitment.

Any conscientious prime minister wears a crown of thorns during the day and sleeps at night on a bed of nails. But above all, this responsibility tests two qualities: vision, on the strategic balance, and crisis management, on tactical scales. As prime minister, Vajpayee wrote an indelible chapter in India’s history with the detonation of one fusion and two fission bombs on 11 May 1998, and two additional fission devices two days later. Previous PMs had shied away from traversing the last mile of a national vision. Vajpayee’s cool, and silent, steps to this visionary horizon took the world’s breath away. For India, it was a moment of rebirth.

Vajpayee’s leadership was tested by Kargil. Pakistan’s onslaught, thinly veiled by familiar military deceit, had the advantage of surprise. Vajpayee’s resilience, patience and belief gave our armed forces the leadership they needed for victory.

There was much surprise, and even a hint of contradiction, when the leader who went to Lahore for peace, hosted Pervez Musharraf, the architect of Kargil, at the Agra summit. But Vajpayee, who dreamt of resolution, understood a critical fact: peace is possible only when security is achieved. Between a nuclear arsenal and Kargil he had proved to Pakistan the futility of terrorism and war. It was now up to Pakistan to abandon both and build amity between two sovereign nations. Alas, Pakistan never seems to be awake when history beckons.

As is well known, Vajpayee was also a brilliant poet. There have been many writers [and more re-writers] who have done well enough in politics; but the combination of poet and politician is rare. Uniquely, Vajpayee was equally honest to both poetry and politics. That is what lifted him from excellent Prime Minister to a hero of his generation.

The writer is MoS external affairs





POSTER BOYS: With MM Joshi & LK Advani

Retd justice Karnan refuses to vacate govt flat in Kolkata

Rohit Khanna TNN

Kolkata:17.08.2018

Retired justice C S Karnan has told the West Bengal housing department and the registrar general of the Calcutta high court he could not be evicted from his flat at Rosedale Complex in New Town till his order against eight Supreme Court judges were not executed. He said he wanted to continue at the Rosedale flat that served as his home and “make-shift court”.

Karnan was given the accommodation when he was transferred to the Calcutta high court.

The new development over the Rosedale Complex started when the housing department wrote to the judicial department secretary last month, mentioning that the retired judge had to vacate the government-maintained flat, which had to be given out to others. A few days later, the registrar general of the Calcutta HC sent a letter to Karnan. When contacted, Karnan said, “I have sent a reply to the housing department and the registrar general of the Calcutta HC. I have also sent copies to the International Court of Justice, Netherlands and the United Nations Security Council.”

Govt launches its website for disaster management

Chennai:17.08.2018

Against the backdrop of growing incidence of disaster, chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Thursday launched a web portal, www.tnsdma.gov.in, exclusively for disaster management. The government also signed a memorandum of understanding with Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre (ADPC) to provide training and disaster risk management strategies for government staff involved in disaster management.

The website, a comprehensive one, provides a wide range of services, including active alerts, helplines for each district, rainfall info, risk governance, policy and plan, capacity building, vulnerability assessment, awareness and programmes. Emergency contact numbers of various agencies are hosted on the website. “It provides a platform to people affected by disaster to upload the photographs and messages and get their problems highlighted. Monitored by the state-level officers, the district administration concerned will be communicated immediately for action for which they should register. Volunteers can also register their names,” revenue administration, disaster management and mitigation commissioner K Satyagopal said. Nongovernment organizations and first responders can also register.

Links are provided for weather updates, regional forecast, Chennai weather update and heavy rainfall warning from meteorology department, earthquake bulletin and tsunami early warning from the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services. Along with Bangkok based ADPC, the state will provide a long-term training programme for government staff. Satyagopal said, “Final details are being worked out for programmes in Chennai and other districts. ADPC’s association is for a longer period to build capacity among staff.” TNN

TN REMEMBERS ATAL BIHARI VAJPAYEE

Brand Vajpayee was in high demand in TN in 90s

Jayaraj.Sivan@timesgroup.com

Chennai:17.08.2018

Atal Bihari Vajpayee was able to make inroads into the Dravidian heartland of Tamil Nadu with ease, first through an electoral tie-up with the AIADMK in 1998. Even as that alliance was snapping shortly a year after it was forged, Vajpayee pieced together an alternative with another Dravidian major, the DMK.

More than Vajpayee wanting to ally with the AIADMK and the DMK, it was J Jayalalithaa and M Karunanidhi who were keen on tying up with the BJP under Vajpayee, said M Kasinathan, political analyst. As the BJP was emerging on the national scene after kar seva and the Ayodhya marches, Jayalalithaa saw an opportunity to regain a foothold in the political power struggle. She felt a tie-up with the BJP would help gain importance on the national scene and also weaken a slew of cases filed by central agencies against her. The grand alliance that included the PMK and the MDMK stumped Karunanidhi.

There was a Tamil Nadu link to his government’s undoing too. The infamous Delhi tea party that pulled down his government was scripted by Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy, an MP from Tamil Nadu, and was played out by his ally Jayalalithaa and Congress leader Sonia Gandhi. After the truck ended, Jayalalithaa claimed it was she who introduced Vajpayee to the people of TN. The journey with the AIADMK was a roller-coaster ride for Vajpayee all through. Trouble began even before the government could be formed as Jayalalithaa delayed her party’s letter of support to his government, said political commentator R Rangaraj.

There was no looking back since then and the BJP made huge inroads in TN. People in Karunanidhi’s inner circle in the ‘90s say he felt he missed a chance to tie up with Vajpayee in 1998. He grabbed it a year later by extending support to salvage Vajpayee’s government. Karunanidhi’s larger game plan was to keep Jayalalithaa out of power, both in Tamil Nadu and at the Centre.

Karunanidhi’s nephew Murasoli Maran, who saw a chance of becoming a Union minister, played a key role in sealing the alliance. In the process, Karunanidhi even embraced his estranged colleague and MDMK leader Vaiko. Despite the Vajpayee government falling in 1999, the BJP-DMK alliance continued and formed the government at the Centre that year.

BJP’s dabbling with major alliance partners in Tamil Nadu ended with the 2004 Lok Sabha polls. Since then, both the DMK and the AIADMK have been hesitant about any electoral truck with the BJP.

People cutting across party lines who happened to interact and move closely with Vajpayee were swayed by his aura. Leaders like Vaiko, despite falling out with the BJP, held Vajpayee in high esteem.



GOLDEN ERA: A September 2003 photo of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee being received by DMK president M Karunanidhi at Apollo Hospital in Chennai, where he had gone to meet Murasoli Maran

Flight Info

IndiGo to operate bi-weekly Vijayawada-Singapore service

Tharun Boda

VIJAYAWADA, AUGUST 16, 2018 00:00 IST

Tentative plan is to launch the service in early October

IndiGo, which recently made the Vijayawada airport as a hub for its aircraft, has come forward to operate bi-weekly service to Singapore responding to a tender call by the Andhra Pradesh Airports Development Corporation Ltd (APADCL).

This takes the State’s ambitious plan of starting an international flight service from the airport in the capital Amaravati a step closer to fruition.

“The tendering process has been completed and the airlines came forward to fly on the new sector. The State government has in principle approved the deal and assured it the Viability Gap Funding (VGF). We are awaiting the formal approval and modalities from the government before signing the final agreement. Tentatively the service will be launched on October 2,” APADCL chief executive officer Virender Singh told The Hindu .

“Though the airline was not keen initially it came in after the tender call that assured the VGF,” Mr. Singh said.

According to its aviation policy, the State provides VGF if the airline fails to get at least 50% occupancy on the specified sector. “We are confident that every flight will have 60-70% occupancy and no funding may be required. But the VGF would take care of the losses, if any.” Once the agreement is signed, the timings of the scheduled flights would be decided.

With the city airport not being included in the bilateral air service agreements by the Centre yet, the outset of international services got allegedly stalled and the Corporation has planned to run unscheduled chartered flights by hiring an airline that could run the business on its behalf.

The inordinate delay has dashed the hopes of the State which is expecting to have direct flights to destinations in West Asia.

Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had in June announced that the Vijayawada-Singapore service would be launched soon. Earlier it was also announced that Singapore’s SilkAir would be operating unscheduled flights as per the State’s requirement.

A domestic carrier could operate international services from Vijayawada without special permissions.

Rain News

பவானி, தாமிரபரணி ஆறுகளில் வெள்ளப்பெருக்கு: ரயில்கள் தற்காலிக ரத்து

By DIN  |   Published on : 15th August 2018 08:16 PM 

நெல்லை மாவட்டம் தாமிரபரணி ஆற்றில் ஏற்பட்டுள்ள வெள்ளப் பெருக்கால் குறுக்குத்துறை சுப்பிரமணிய சாமி கோவில் நீரில் மூழ்கியது. தென்காசி பகுதியில் பெய்துவரும் தொடா் மழையின் காரணமாக தென்காசி-குற்றாலம் பிரதான சாலையில் அமைந்துள்ள யானைப்பாலம் சிற்றாற்றில் வெள்ளப்பெருக்கு ஏற்பட்டுள்ளது. இதனால் ஆற்றுப்பகுதிக்கு செல்ல வேண்டாம் என்று மாவட்ட ஆட்சியர் அறிவுறுத்தியுள்ளார். 
கனமழை மற்றும் நிலச்சரிவு காரணமாக கொல்லம்- செங்கோட்டை இடையிலான அனைத்து ரயில்களும் தற்காலிகமாக ரத்து செய்யப்பட்டுள்ளதாக தெற்கு ரயில்வே அறிவித்துள்ளது. செங்கோட்டை அருகே  வெள்ளம் காரணமாக பண்பொழி-வடகரை சாலையில் போக்குவரத்து துண்டிப்பு. 

ஈரோடு மாவட்டத்தின் பவானிசாகர் அணையின் மொத்த கொள்ளளவான 120 அடியில் 117 அடி புதன்கிழமை நிரம்பியது. அணைக்கு நீர்வரத்து 43,300 கன அடியாக உள்ளது, அணையில் இருந்து 43,500 கன அடி உபரி நீர் வெளியேற்றப்பட்டு வருகிறது.

இதனால் பவானி ஆற்றில் ஏற்பட்ட வெள்ளப்பெருக்கு காரணமாக கோபிசெட்டிபாளையம் அருகே அரசூர், கணேசபுரம் பகுதிகளில் வீடுகளுக்குள் நீர் புகுந்தது. எனவே அப்பகுதியினர் பத்திரமாக மீட்கப்பட்டு முகாம்களில் தங்க வைக்கப்பட்டுள்ளனர். பவானி ஆற்றின் கரையோரப் பகுதிகளான அண்ணாநகா், கொடிவேரி, புஞ்சைபுளியம்பட்டி, கள்ளிப்பட்டி உள்ளிட்ட 20-க்கும் மேற்பட்ட கிராமங்களில் பல்லாயிரக்கணக்கான விவசாய  நிலங்களில் வெள்ள நீா் புகுந்து பெரும் சேதம் ஏற்பட்டுள்ளது.