When Atal Bihari Vajpayee was about to leave BJP and had differences with Advani, an unheard story

News India Live, Digital Desk: The name of our country’s former Prime Minister and veteran of Indian politics Atal Bihari Vajpayee is still taken with great respect. But there were some moments in his political journey which not many people know about. A shocking revelation has come to light, which shows that Atal Bihari Vajpayee had once made up his mind to leave BJP and form his own new party. Behind his intention were his alleged differences with Lal Krishna Advani. These things have been written in the book “Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times, The Prime Minister” by Rajat Sharma, President and Editor-in-Chief of ‘India TV’. According to this book, the relationship between Atal ji and Advani ji, who were working together since the time of Jan Sangh, had turned sour. A major reason for this was that after 1989, when BJP started paying more attention to the Ramjanmabhoomi movement, Lal Krishna Advani emerged as the face of the party. Advani’s Rath Yatra and the huge support given to the Ayodhya movement gave a new turn to BJP’s politics. This was the period when Advani’s stature was continuously increasing in the party and Vajpayee, who was often seen as a moderate and inclusive leader, was beginning to feel marginalized to some extent. It was felt in the political circles that Vajpayee, who was known as the leader who always took everyone along in the Parliament, was no longer able to fit completely into the new ideology, which was centered on the Ram Mandir movement. It is told in the book that it was the time around 1990-91 when Atal ji had taken this big decision. But Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) intervened in this. Bhaurao Deoras, a then co-secretary of the Sangh, consoled Vajpayee and urged him not to take such a step. Deoras also reminded Vajpayee how much the country needed his leadership and that without him the party would suffer a great loss. After this intervention of the Sangh, Atal Bihari Vajpayee changed his decision and remained with the BJP. This incident makes it clear that such difficult situations can arise even among veteran leaders in politics. However, it is also true that despite these differences, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani gave a strong base to the Bharatiya Janata Party for a long time and together took the party to great heights.