Among the many things former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee will be remembered for is his skill as an orator. The poet-Prime Minister, an awarded parliamentarian was also a great wordsmith who could play easily with words, sometimes laced with humour but in measured terms. On a day when Vajapyee is being conferred with the country’s highest civilian honour - Bharat Ratna, let’s go down the memory lane and recall some of his most powerful and historic speeches.
It was during Vajpayee’s second term as Prime Minister that India carried out three successful underground nuclear tests at Pokharan in May 1998. The tests were widely welcomed in India but drew immediate condemnation from world leaders for breaking an informal moratorium on nuclear testing. Vajpayee strongly defended the move in Parliament with the following statement:
We have been the victims of three attacks. This fate should not repeat. We are not getting ready to attack anyone. We don’t have that intention. I was asked about the connection between Pokhran-2 and the Lahore bus service. They are two sides of the same coin - the strength of our defence and the hand of friendship -- the hand of friendship through honesty.
—Vajpayee addresses the Lok Sabha after the Pokhran-II nuclear tests
Vajpayee’s political life spanning across seven decades, has numerous account of exemplary accomplishments and statesmanship. His visit to the United States in 2000 was marked by his address at the Joint Session of the US Congress. The visit also opened a new era for Indo-Us ties.
As we talk with candour, we open the doors to new possibilities and new areas of cooperation in advance in democracy, in combating terrorism, in energy and environment, science and technology and international peacekeeping. The dawn of the new century has marked a new beginning in our relations. Let us work to fulfil this promise and the hope of today.
—Vajpayee at a joint session of the US Congress in 2000
In 2002, Vajpayee addressed the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort on Independence Day appealing people to come together to realize the dreams of the country.
Our aim may be as high as the endless sky, but we should have a resolve in our minds to walk ahead, hand-in-hand for victory will be ours. Come, let us strengthen this resolve by the cry of ‘Jai Hind’. Join me in raising the slogan - Jai Hind. Jai Hind. Jai Hind. Thank you. —Vajpayee’s address on Independence Day in 2002
Vajypayee’s one of the most riveting speech was the one he delivered on the floor of the Lok Sabha in 1996 when his 13-day-old BJP government collapsed.
You want to run the country. It’s a very good thing. Our congratulations are with you. We will be completely involved in the service of our country. We bow down to the strength of majority. We assure you that till the time the work that we started with our bare hands in national interest is not completed, we shall not rest. Respected speaker, I am going to the President to tender my resignation.
—Vajpayee speaks in Lok Sabha after the fall of his 13-day-old government in 1996.
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