“Vajpayee’s deprecating humour made him distinctive”, “Modi's BJP could learn a few lessons from Vajpayee” — Saba Naqvi

Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the first non-Congress Prime Minister to hold together and run one of the most stable coalition governments the country has seen for five whole years.

Senior journalist and author Saba Naqvi, who has covered the party for over twenty years, says that ‘Vajpayee's deprecating humour made him stand out, giving the saffron party a different hue’, in her book 'Shades of Saffron: From Vajpayee to Modi’, which will be out next week.

On being asked what the fundamental differences between Vajpayee's and Modi's BJP are, Naqvi answered:

“Vajpayee revered parliamentary traditions and had built up cross-party relationships over a lifetime. Even though he was always ideologically opposed to the Congress, he had friends across the political spectrum. His personality definitely impacted the nature of the first NDA and the compulsions of the time were also different. BJP needed to get out of its isolation; it needed to show it could run an alliance. We have to credit Vajpayee for running the most stable coalition in India’s history so far. Decisions were made in consultation with other parties.

It’s hard to believe that Mamata Banerjee was part of the government under Vajpayee and it was possible for her to survive there. In all fairness, Narendra Modi got a simple majority on his own so the entire nature of the regime is different. Today, allies don’t feel respected. We have seen what is happening with the Shiv Sena. Also, an entire section within the BJP hesitates to talk, and that’s in a party which was so talkative and wanting to be the new thing in town.”

Naqvi wrote that the Pokhran tests were BJP’s first step towards owning nationalism, which came a full circle in 2014. She elaborated on that, saying:
“Pokhran was the time when BJP owned up to nationalism. Till then, Congress owned nationalism. Pokhran was when the narrative began to shift. Anyone who criticised the Pokhran tests was called anti-national. Now we are in an era when you criticise the Modi government and the BJP spokesperson will accuse you of being anti-national. ‘Tukde-tukde’ gang is a favourite term used.”

Vajpayee was able to parry uncomfortable questions with a great turn of phrase and humour. On being asked whether Naqvi thought the discourse has more rancour now, she answered:

“Vajpayee had this ability to turn a phrase. During the 1998 campaign, he was asked by a reporter about the possibility of him losing, Unfazed and with a twinkle in the eye, he retorted, “Then it will be ‘Agli Bari, Atal Bihari (next time round Atal Bihari)’. The campaign slogan in 1998 was ‘Abki bari Atal Bihari (this time around, it’s Atal Bihari)’. I am not running down anyone but now the discourse is personal and about running down people.”

Naqvi thinks that Vajpayee's legacy is this:

“Vajpayee can be credited for setting a template for a healthy federal coalition. He would have liked his legacy to have been Indo-Pak peace but that was not to be. Modi’s BJP could do well to learn a few lessons from Vajpayee.”

On being Muslim and covering the BJP, Naqvi has been viciously trolled and threatened for her work. This is how it impacts her:

“It was never an issue in my mind. Yet I am aware — if you see the level of trolling — that it is on people’s minds. In all fairness to the people in BJP, because I have been there for so long, they know me beyond the Muslim name. I have always been extremely uncomfortable about making myself the centre of attention. I am not the victim. I am here to cover other people’s stories.”