UNLIKE other politicians, there is an air of contentment about him. Watch him play with Neha, the child of his foster daughter, and you wonder what he is doing in the hurly burly of politics. The man writes poetry, the kindwhich touches the heart of his arch rival, and you find yourself ask -ing whether he really has it in him to be the challenger for the highest executive position in the country. But once amongst the people, it is obvious that he means business. Quicksilver in his repartee, he has an uncanny ability to strike an immedi ate rapport with the audience. He is the man who could be the next Prime Minister of India.
Yet, Atal Behari Vajpayee retains something of the old world charm. He knows that his party is pitted against the Congress, and that he himself is pitted against the incumbent Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao. But he has no qualms about a photograph of his rival adorning the wall of his home. The photograph captures the moment when Rao released his book of poems. "Whatever be our political difference, he is a scholar, and he was the first to grasp the most significant of my poems." Such candour is rare in Indian polity today. It is not only the frankness which impresses. You seldom find such a level of political tolerance these days. It was probably this trait in the man which prompted his Samajwadi Party rival in Lucknow, Raj Babbar, to say: "I am Arjun in this battlefield, but he's Bhishma Pitamah".
He is also one of those rare politicians who never loses his sense of humour. Last week, at a rally held on the occasion of his filing his nomination for the Lok Sabha election in Lucknow, someone from the crowd shouted: "Hum Vajpayeeji ke liye khoon baha denge (we'll shed blood for the man)". Vajpayee was quick to retort: "Arre bhai khoon mat bahao, pasina bahao, wo jyada kam ayega. (give me sweat, not blood)". Or consider his quick seizure of the slogan, "Desh ka PM kaisa ho, Vajpayee jaisa ho," and his response, "Arre bhai PM banne ke pahle mujhe to MP banana padega (make me an MP first)."
It is this capacity to pick up haphazardly flung remarks from the audience and provide a quick rejoinder which makes Vajpayee such a good campaigner. Add to that his clean image, and you begin to fathom why the BJP andthe Sangh parivar decided he was their best bet. Even his rivals acknowledge his acumen. After all, he has repre -sented the country so many times in human rights conferences around the globe. He is the one man in his party who has a secular image. Clearly, if there is anyone who can take the BJP close to power, it can be none other than this man who writes sensitive poetry, has a happy family life without ever getting married, and yet has within him the steel to take on political rivals without bothering about the velvet gloves. No, you cannot underestimate Vajpayee's role as the challenger.
