Before Kalam, BJP floated Vajpayee’s name for President: Former PM’s aide reveals in book

Before nominating APJ Abdul Kalam as India’s 11th President, BJP suggested Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who declined, citing democratic precedent. Vajpayee built consensus across parties, maintained a strong bond with Lal Krishna Advani, and handled crises like the 2001 Parliament attack

New Delhi: Before considering APJ Abdul Kalam for the eleventh presidential candidate of India, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) suggested Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s name for the President’s post and hand over the prime ministership to Lal Krishna Advani.

However, the then-prime minister refused, stating that his becoming President by virtue of his majority would set a wrong precedent.

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Ashok Tandon, who served as Vajpayee’s media advisor, related the episode in his book Atal Sansmaran, published by Prabhat Prakashan.

Kalam was elected the 11th President in 2002 with the support of both, then ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the Opposition. He served in this position until 2007.

Tandon, who served as the ex-prime minister’s media advisor from 1998 to 2004, writes that Vajpayee, on the other hand, flatly rejected his party’s suggestion that he should move to Rashtrapati Bhavan and hand over the prime ministership to his second-in-command, Lal Krishna Advani.

According to Tandon, “Vajpayee was not ready for this. He believed that for any popular prime minister, becoming President by virtue of majority would not be a good sign for Indian parliamentary democracy. It would set a very wrong precedent, and he would be the last person to support such a move.” Tandon writes that Vajpayee invited leaders of the main opposition party, the Congress, so that a consensus could be built for the post of President.

“I remember that Sonia Gandhi, Pranab Mukherjee, and Dr. Manmohan Singh came to meet him. Vajpayee officially revealed for the first time that the NDA had decided to nominate Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam as their candidate for the presidential election… There was a moment of silence in the meeting. Then Sonia Gandhi broke the silence and said that they were surprised by his choice, and that they had no option but to support him, but they would discuss his proposal and then make a decision,” he says.

Tandon relates many other events that took place during Vajpayee’s tenure as prime minister and about Vajpayee’s relationships with several leaders.

On the Atal-Advani duo, he writes that despite differences on some policy issues, the relationship between the two leaders never soured publicly.

According to Tandon, Advani always referred to Atalji as “my leader and source of inspiration,” and Vajpayee, in turn, addressed him as his “steadfast companion.” “The partnership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani has been a symbol of cooperation and balance in Indian politics. They not only built the BJP but also gave a new direction to both the party and the government,” he writes.

When Parliament came under a terrorist attack on December 13, 2001, a phone conversation took place 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 residence and watching the security forces’ operation on television with his colleagues.

Tandon writes, “Suddenly, Congress President Sonia Gandhi called. She said, ‘I’m worried about you, are you safe?’ To this, Atalji replied, ‘Sonia ji, I am safe, I was worried that you might be in the Parliament building… Take care of yourself.'”