Leaders cutting across party lines pay homage to Atal Bihari Vajpayee

RANCHI: A sense of loss and grief gripped

Jharkhand

as the news of the demise of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee came in on Thursday evening. Revered by the people and the intelligentsia for being the architect of smaller, efficient states, leaders across party lines paid tribute to Vajpayee for his visionary leadership whcuh paved the way for the formation of Jharkhand.


Earlier on Thursday, chief minister Raghubar Das cancelled all his official engagements as the news of Vajpayee being critical at AIIMS came in. In his condolence message, Das said he was deeply disturbed by the loss of a person who he looked up to as a father figure and a political guru. "His demise is a personal loss to me. He was the creator of Jharkhand and his contribution to Indian politics will always be remembered. The vacuum created in society and politics by his passing will never be filled," he said.

Leaders across political lines expressed grief and condolences.

Shibu Soren

, JMM chief and one of the firebrand leaders of the statehood movement, expressed his condolences calling it a personal loss. "He was not just an able administrator and a statesman, but also a humanitarian who worked for an equitable society. His conviction for the creation of Jharkhand gave power to the tribals and the downtrodden," he told TOI.

JMM general secretary Supriyo Bhattacharya said Vajpayee should not be seen only as a BJP leader, but a statesman who belonged to the country. "I remember meeting him on a train when I was traveling with Forward block general secretary Chitta Basu. Atal ji came to the coupe to talk to Basu da. He had no political rivals and he knew how to address the issues of the masses," he said.

Bhattacharya also reminisced about the incident when the NDA government was going to table the State Reorgansiation Bill in Parliament and Guruji bowed to touch Vajpayee's feet. "Atal ji immediately held Guruji by his shoulders and said 'I am only trying to keep the promise that I made'," Bhattacharya recollected.

While the Jharkhand chapter of the RSS and other social organisations also expressed their condolences, BJP's former Rajya Sabha MP

Ajay Maroo

, who had family terms with Vajpayee remembered him and his father Sitaram Maroo as close associates since the time he joined sangh. Maroo was the propreitor of one of the oldest Hindi vernaculars in the region and Vajpayee had visited Ranchi to lay its foundation in 1963.

Maroo said everytime Vajpayee came to Ranchi, he stayed at their home. "Atal ji always gave due respect to the workers and him visiting our home was enough for us," Maroo said. "I remember him vividly since 1978, when he was the foreign minister and visited our home. He never discussed politics with my father and once I became the editor of our vernacular, he would take me to all his foreign trips. This gave me a chance to see him work closely," Maroo said.

Congress legislative party leader Alam Gir Alam, RJD state president Annapurna Devi and AJSU president Sudesh Mahto also expressed their condolences. "His demise is not a loss for BJP alone, it's a loss for the society and country," Alam said.


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