Video Editor: Abhishek Sharma
A prayer meet for former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Monday, 20 August saw leaders across the political divide hailing him as 'prime minister for everyone', with the Opposition stressing on a need to follow his legacy of taking all along and Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying he withstood a "political untouchability" against his party to stick to his ideals.
Modi said it was Vajpayee who changed the narrative on Kashmir during his speech in the United Nations and brought the issue of terrorism to the centre stage and as prime minister he did not buckle under pressure despite sanctions imposed against India after nuclear tests in Pokhran in 1998.
Vajpayee attributed the tests to the brilliance of India's scientists and two days later, India tested again and showed what a strong political leadership can do, the prime minister said.
"He showed that India is Atal (resolute)," Modi said.
Yesterday at the Asian Games, a young Indian of about 24-25 years, Bajrang Punia, won a gold medal. I believe he had never met Atal ji. When Atal ji was active in politics, he would have been around 10-12 years old. I read that [Punia]dedicated his medal to Atal ji. I believe there can be no greater achievement that someone’s life can have.Narendra Modi, Prime Minister
Veteran BJP leader and Vajpayee's colleague in the party for more than six decades, LK Advani, paid an emotional tribute, saying that he had never imagined that he would address a meeting where Vajpayee was not present.
Leaders of all major political parties and organisations came under one roof to pay tributes to the former prime minister, with some like Derek O'Brien of the Trinamool Congress praising him for his secular credential and Ghulam Nabi Azad of the Congress lauding him for taking everyone along.
Our ideologies were different. But one person always attempted to build consensus while he was alive. Even after his death, he managed to bring everyone together.Ghulam Nabi Azad, Congress leader
Rival parties from Kashmir - National Conference and People's Democratic Party - spoke in unison while praising Vajpayee's handling of the festering issues faced by the border state, with former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti describing him as a messiah for people there.
If you want to remember Atal, build a nation with so much love that the world bows before it saying that this nation spreads love all around. This would be our biggest tribute to him.Farouq Abdullah, Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister
BJP president Amit Shah said BJP workers will follow the path shown by the former prime minister as he expressed his thanks to leaders of various parties who had arrived at the prayer meeting to pay their tributes.
Anand Sharma of the Congress, Trinamool Congress's Derek O'Brien, Satish Mishra of Bahujan Samajwadi Party, D Raja of the CPI, Lok Tantrik Janata Dal's mentor Sharad Yadav, Ram Vilas Paswan of Lok Janshakti Party, Harsimrat Kaur Badal of Akali Dal were among those who attended the meeting.
Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee breathed his last on 16 August 2018 at the age of 93.
(With inputs from PTI and ANI.)
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