First stable non-Congress coalition government under Vajpayee: Advani

First stable non-Congress coalition government under Vajpayee: Advani

New Delhi, Aug 16: BJP veteran L.K. Advani, who had a long association with Atal Bihari Vajpayee and had jointly built the party from scratch, on Thursday expressed grief over his death, observing that the former Prime Minister will be remembered as the pioneer of the first-ever stable non-Congress coalition government at the Centre. “I am at a loss for words to express my deep grief and sadness today as we all mourn the passing away of one of India’s tallest statesmen, Atal Bihari Vajpayee. To me, Atalji was more than a senior colleague. In fact, he was my closest friend for over 65 years,” Advani said in a statement.

Remembering his long association with Vajpayee, Advani recalled that right from their days as volunteers of the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh), to the inception of Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the struggle of the “dark months” during the Emergency that led to the formation of the Janata Party and later the emergence of the BJP in 1980. “Atalji will be remembered as the pioneer of the first ever stable non-Congress coalition government at the Centre and I had the privilege of working as his deputy for six years,” he said.

In 1996, Vajpayee was sworn in as the Prime Minister of the country but only for 13 days. His second term came on March 19, 1998, and lasted 13 months, a period during which India stunned the world by undertaking a series of nuclear tests that invited global reproach and sanctions. Although his tenure again proved short-lived, his and his government’s enhanced stature following the world-defying blasts enabled him to return as Prime Minister for the third time on October 13, 1999, a tenure that lasted a full five-year term. (IANS)

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