Letters to The EDITOR

Four-lane Roads: Brainchild of Atalji

I count myself blessed that I was fortunate enough to listen to the peerless oratory of Atalji in my formative years during college days. He could weave magic with words and cast a spell on the audience. I heard about the gift of the gab possessed by late Indira Gandhi but was too young to appreciate it. Among the crop of the present generation of politicians none can rub shoulders with the former prime minister as far as swaying, impressing and convincing people with words is concerned. This void is hard to fill for a long time to come and Atalji’s witticism and sagacity will be sorely missed.

I was posted at Sankardev Nagar, Hojai for long 5 years commuting to office daily from Nagaon. NH-54 and NH-36 were in tatters and vehicles, which could not accelerate beyond 20 kmph, gave a harrowing experience both to the drivers and the passengers and took 3 hours to cover a distance of 55 km. The people of Lanka, Hojai and Lumding in particular will gratefully acknowledge the greatness of Atalji who envisioned the East-West Corridor connecting Silchar and Kutch. Now the 4-lane roads criss-crossing vast swathes of India are the brainchild of this visionary. That is why perhaps the denizens of Dibrugarh have spontaneously come up with a proposal to name the Bogibeel bridge after this worthy personality who was instrumental in building it (yet to be completed).

Looking back at the turbulent decade of the 1990’s-India’s tryst with the heady cocktail of coalition politics, my conviction grows stronger that only a man of Atalji’s stature and calibre could cement and hold the diverse flock together. This singular trait alone speaks volumes about this man’s capability to deliver the goods after the disastrous failure of V P Singh and Chandrsekhar. His calmness yet defiance after the Pokharan nuclear test in the face of worldwide sanctions sizes up his statesmanship.

Ashok Modi,

A D P Road, Nagaon-782001