Latest news with #Vajpayee
New Indian Express
4 days ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
‘I got demotion from CM to UT chief, LG Sinha got promotion,' says Omar Abdullah, confident J&K will regain statehood
KATRA: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday raked up the issue of restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir at the flagging off of the maiden train to Kashmir by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in this pilgrim town. "There are four persons on this stage who were present at the inauguration of the Katra railway station (in 2014). You had just won the election, becoming the Prime Minister for the first time. MoS in PMO Jeetendra Singh was present then and our LG Manoj Sinha sahib was discharging duties as MoS Railways and I was here as chief minister. "If you see, by the blessings of Mata (Vaishno Devi) Sinha has got a promotion and I had a demotion. I was chief minister of a state and now I am a CM of the UT. However, I believe that it will not take long to rectify it .... Jammu and Kashmir will again get the statehood under your watch only," Abdullah said. The erstwhile state was reorganised into the Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh following the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019. Abdullah said many people have dreamt of seeing a train chugging into Kashmir. "Even the British had dreamt of connecting Kashmir by train but they did not succeed. Their plan was to bring rail from Uri, along the banks of Jhelum, to connect with the country. What the British could not achieve has happened at your (Modi's) hands and Kashmir has been connected to the rest of the country," he added. Abdullah paid rich tributes to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for declaring the train to Kashmir a project of national importance. "It will be a grave mistake if I do not thank former PM Vajpayee. This project was undoubtedly started in 1983-84.... but it was completed only after Vajpayee declared it a project of national importance and made provisions in the budget," he said.
NDTV
28-05-2025
- Politics
- NDTV
This Day In 1996: AB Vajpayee Ends 13-Day Rule With " Satta Ka Khel" Speech
New Delhi: " Satta ka khel toh chalta rahega, sarkarein aayengi, jayengi, partian banengi, bigrengi, magar yeh desh rehna chahiye, yeh desh ka loktantra rehna chahiye (Power play will continue, governments will come and go, parties will be formed and broken, but this country must live on, its democracy must live on)." Exactly 29 years ago, on May 28, 1996, BJP stalwart Atal Bihari Vajpayee resigned as Prime Minister after just 13 days in power when his government lost the majority in the Lok Sabha. This is the shortest stint for a Prime Minister, matched by two 13-day stints of Gulzarilal Nanda, who served as Acting Prime Minister after the deaths of former Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Lal Bahadur Shastri. Mr Vajpayee's powerful speech, during which he said that while governments and parties may change, India's democracy must live on, is rated among the most articulate speeches in our parliamentary history. As fate would have it, Mr Vajpayee would return as Prime Minister again, twice. 1996 Election: The Ascent The 1996 Lok Sabha election was fought after landmark events in Indian political history. The PV Narasimha Rao government had ushered in massive economic reforms through liberalisation in 1991, but the episode that would decide the fate of the government -- and the country -- would take place the next year. On December 6, 1992, the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya was demolished as right-wing outfits stressed that the mosque was built at the birthplace of Lord Ram. The demolition polarised the country and the BJP benefited from this. In the 1996 election, the saffron party won 161 seats in Lok Sabha, becoming the single largest party. The Congress won 140 seats, followed by the HD Deve Gowda-led Janata Dal (46) and CPM (32). Mr Vajpayee staked a claim to form the government and took the oath on May 15. The Resignation On May 28, Mr Vajpayee conceded that he did not have the majority to continue in power. "We have been given the chance as the single largest party because people wanted a change," the BJP legend said in Lok Sabha. Mr Vajpayee also made it clear that he would never break the BJP to cling on to power. "During the course of this debate, a remark has been made repeatedly that personally Vajpayee is a good leader but his party is not good... If I am offered power with a new alliance at the cost of a split in my party, I would be the last person even to remotely entertain such an idea." He also said there should be no polarisation in the country on communal or caste lines. "Governments will come and go but the nation will always remain there. The democracy of this country will live forever. Has it not become a difficult task in the present atmosphere?" he asked, targeting his rivals. The Aftermath Following Mr Vajpayee's resignation, the Congress too declined to form the government, but extended support to the United Front -- a coalition of non-Congress and non-BJP parties -- to keep the BJP out of power. This started a search for the next Prime Minister. Former Prime Minister VP Singh was approached, but he refused. Another choice was Left veteran Jyoti Basu, but the CPM decided that with a coalition of so many parties, Mr Basu wouldn't get a free hand. Jyoti Basu later called the Left party's decision to pass over the Prime Minister's seat a "historic blunder". Eventually, Janata Dal leader HD Deve Gowda was chosen as the Prime Minister candidate. The Karnataka leader had to quit the post less than a year later, as the Congress withdrew its support. IK Gujral became the next Prime Minister, but he too had to resign in less than a year. The Return - And Another Test In the 1998 general election, the BJP emerged as the single largest party again. Mr Vajpayee led a rainbow coalition into power. The following months saw landmark events. India conducted the Pokhran nuclear test and also defeated Pakistan in the Kargil conflict. Months after the conflict, however, another phase of uncertainty began. The J Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK had been unsuccessfully pushing the Vajpayee government to dismiss the DMK government in Tamil Nadu, led by her arch-rival M Karunanidhi. When Mr Vajpayee refused, AIADMK withdrew its support and the government lost the majority in the House. In the 1999 election, the BJP again scored the top rank and Mr Vajpayee returned to power at the head of another coalition government. This time, he would complete his term, becoming the first non-Congress Prime Minister to do so.
News18
23-05-2025
- Politics
- News18
Former PM Vajpayee's Poems Included in Delhi University's PG English Syllabus
Agency: PTI Last Updated: Some of his popular lines like 'Kadam milakar chalna hoga', 'Geet naya gata hoon' and 'Aao milke diya jalayen' are well-known among the public and continue to resonate widely. The poems by former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee are now part of the Delhi University's postgraduate English curriculum under the paper Post-Independence Indian Literatures in Semester 1, as part of a larger syllabus revision that was approved at the varsity's Executive Council meeting on Friday. Vajpayee, who served as the prime minister for three terms between 1996 and 2004, is also remembered for his passionate poetry focused on themes of nationalism, culture and tradition. Some of his popular lines like 'Kadam milakar chalna hoga", 'Geet naya gata hoon" and 'Aao milke diya jalayen" are well-known among the public and continue to resonate widely. This move has, however, sparked criticism from some academic quarters. Rudrashish Chakraborty, an elected member of the Executive Council (EC), questioned the literary value of Vajpayee's poems, stating that poets like Sudama Pandey 'Dhoomil", Suryakant Tripathi 'Nirala" and Gajanan Madhav Muktibodh better represent the poetic ethos of the era. 'Inclusion of overtly political pieces makes no sense…Vajpayee's poems carry no literary value to be part of a PG syllabus in English," he remarked. Sunil Sharma, another member, clarified that the EC does not have the authority to frame the syllabus. The meeting also approved curriculum changes across departments such as Sociology and Psychology, and introduced new programs in Journalism and Nuclear Medicine. First Published: May 23, 2025, 21:57 IST
The Hindu
17-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Operation Sindoor sent a tough message to Pakistan, says Nainar Nagendran in Hosur
'If Kargil War uttered the name of Vajpayee, Operation Sindoor declared the name of Narendra Modi,' said BJP State president Nainar Nagendran at the tricolour rally commemorating Operation Sindoor in Hosur on Saturday. The BJP's tricolour rally to commemorate Operation Sindoor commenced under pounding rains with Mr. Nagendran leading hundreds of party cadre through the streets of Hosur. Speaking at the event, Mr. Nagendran said, 'The war sent a tough message to Pakistan and that message was delivered by women armed personnel.' Former State president of the Party K. Annamalai said, the Pahalgam attacks were deliberately carried out to foment enmity between Hindus and Muslims of the country. But that was foiled as Indians stood united and as one behind Prime Minister Modi. According to him, while India's attacks were targeted at enemy sites without causing casualties of innocent Pakistani civilians, Pakistan retaliated aimed at Indian people. But India stood as one behind our armed forces and emerged tall, said. He also lauded the huge turnout undeterred by the pounding rains.
New Indian Express
15-05-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Loss of face as far as diplomacy is concerned: Former External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha
NEW DELHI: India has suffered some major diplomatic losses during the India-Pakistan conflict and one of them was the 'internationalisation of Kashmir and the efforts to hyphenate the two by other countries, said former External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha. In a conversation with this newspaper, Sinha said, 'Our diplomacy has taken a hit as Pakistan has not been condemned by any countries' for sponsoring cross-border terrorism against India and being responsible for the killing of 26 innocents in the Pahalgam attack. Sinha, who served as a minister in the Vajpayee government from 2002-2004, said during the Kargil war, the entire world supported India. Quoting an interview of Vajpayee, Sinha said that Vajpayee turned down an invitation by Washington during the Kargil war. 'Nobody ever told us that we were wrong, or that Pakistan was right, or that we should ask our troops to call off the operations. The most telling example is that the then US President Bill Clinton invited Vajpayee to Washington and to settle the issue as Nawaz Sharif was also there. But he refused to go,' said Sinha. However, India stood isolated during the current conflict, he said. Despite strong opposition by India, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) allotted a loan package to Pakistan. 'No other country stood with us even as we abstained from the meeting.' Pakistan had the clear support of China throughout the conflict, he said. 'Pakistan could not have used Chinese equipment without their permission. During that period, even Nepal was advising us to de-escalate. The fact of the matter is that Pakistan had the open support of Turkey and Azerbaijan,' he added. While the US claims that it has averted a 'nuclear war between the two countries by its effective intervention, Sinha said that it is a departure from the stated position taken by India since 1972. Sinha asserted that by entering into a conditional ceasefire, India has raised the threshold. 'Gola and golie rhymes very well, but that raises the threshold. It means that if they fire a bullet at us, we'll fire a cannon at them. We raised the threshold for ourselves by this statement.'
