Atal Bihari Vajpayee's most profound creative disruptions in Indian politics: A three-hour lunch with the Advanis

As the ashes from the funeral pyre of Atal Bihari Vajpayee remind us of the transience of human life, his memories come flooding in to reinforce the belief in an individual’s ability to change the course of history. And it will not be an exaggeration to say that Vajpayee, in his mentor Deendayal Upadhyaya’s estimation, emerged more like another Jawaharlal Nehru, endowed with unique charm and charisma but deeply rooted in Indian culture. In a detailed and comprehensive study of “the origins and development of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh”, titled Hindu Nationalism and Indian politics, political scientist Bruce Graham diagnosed the traditionalists within the party as ill-at-ease with the English-speaking leaders. Put simply, the Jana Sangh had postponed its challenge to the Congress party until such time as the younger leadership represented by Upadhyaya, Vajpayee and Madhok had had time to consolidate its position and to define its intellectual objectives with confidence.” Upadhyaya died in 1968 under mysterious circumstances, long before he could fully articulate the party’s intellectual objectives, even though he defined the BJS’s ideological contours by aligning with Ram Manohar Lohia and propounding a guiding philosophy of ‘integral humanism’ that moderated the image of a party steeped in Hindu orthodoxy bordering on communalism. Vajpayee negotiated political and ideological landmines quite sagaciously and eventually emerged as “the right man at the right time”.