BJP’S FIRST PRIME MINISTERIAL CANDIDATE
Advaniji announces Atalji as the PM candidate
“In my presidential address at the BJP’s ‘Maha Adhiveshan’ (mega conference) held in Mumbai on 11-13 November 1995, I traced the party’s highs and lows from its evolution to the founding conference in Mumbai in 1980-how our strength in Parliament had gone up from two in 1984 to eighty-six in 1989 and to 121 in 1991. Expressing the hope and confidence that the BJP would win the people’s mandate to form the Central Government in the 1996 Lok Sabha elections, I declared, ‘We will fight the next elections under the leadership of Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee and he will be our candidate for Prime Minister. For many years, not only our party workers but also the common people have been chanting the slogan “Agli baari, Atal Bihari”. (It is Vajpayee’s turn to be the next Prime Minister.) I am confident that the BJP will form the next government under Atalji’s premiership.’
What transpired on the dais after this announcement is best described in a column by Kanchan Gupta in the Pioneer: “For a moment there was stunned silence. Then followed thunderous applause. The declaration came at the fag end of Advani’s speech. It was not a matter-of-fact statement, but an emotional announcement. He later told some of us it was a ‘historic moment’ for both him and the party, something that he had been waiting for years to declare…. Before Advani, his voice by then choking with emotion, could return to his place on the dais, Vajpayee got up, took the microphone and, giving a pass to his long pauses, said, ‘The BJP will win the election, we will form the Government and Advaniji will be Prime Minister.’ Advani said, ‘Ghoshana ho chuki hai. (Announcement has already been made).’ A smiling Vajpayee retorted, ‘To phir main bhi ghoshana karta hoon ki pradhan mantri… (Then I too shall announce that …).‘ Advani chipped in, ‘Atalji hi banengey (Atalji will become the Prime Minister.).‘ Vajpayee said: ‘Yeh to Lakhnawi andaaz me pahley aap, nahi pahley aap ho raha hai, (What the people are witnessing here is Lucknow’s famed custom of courteousness-’You be the first…’ ‘No, you have to be the first’). For a while, both of them looked at each other, two old colleagues and close friends who had nursed the Bharatiya Jana Sangh since its formation and later the BJP, both of them clearly moved to tears…. In the summer of 1996, Advani’s public declaration came true. The BJP emerged as the single largest party and was invited by President Shankar Dayal Sharma to form the Government. Vajpayee was sworn in as Prime Minister. The rest is history’.
My announcement took everybody by surprise. Until then, neither the BJP nor other non Congress political parties had declared a Prime Ministerial candidate ahead of any parliamentary election. (The Congress party in this respect is in a class of its own because its Prime Ministerial candidate invariably belongs to the ‘dynasty’ or is nominated by it.) The announcement, which I made in Mumbai in my capacity as President of the BJP, produced a surge of enthusiasm among the rank and file of the party, besides being warmly welcomed by the general public. It was not only my own personal conviction that the country deserved a government under the leadership of Atalji, but also the sentiment of millions of Indians”.
Comments
4 Responses to “BJP’S FIRST PRIME MINISTERIAL CANDIDATE”
Sri Advaniji has several firsts to his credit when it comes to electoral practices.
- As pointed out in the article, he was the first to declare a Prime Ministerial candidate
- The first PM candidate to get “online” and try to communicate with the electorate
- The first to demand a fixed election schedule (in Feb of election year). I hope this demand sees a good debate and gets accepted sooner than later
- The first PM candidate to attempt contesting elections based on “issues”. He tried his best to fight elections on issues such as terrorism, black money and others.
Regards, Hari
Respected Advaniji,
We need your leadership today more then ever , why BJP has been denounced is the matter of analysis & introspection.
But Dont forget when RSS is without any M.P even anti Nationalist Forces fear for Backlash , today we have more then 100 voices in Parliament.
Please dont leave us alone , you are strong you made us proud we dont want anybody or Media Certificate , you are not responsible for this debacle alone we all are here , we need your guidance .
Please remain with us physically till universe last without you Nationalist Forces will be on backfoot , Anti Nationalist forces want this.
Please stay with us & make Cadre active & i know there is no one better then you who can motivate Cadre better then you.
Warm Regards
Vishwas
dear ADVANI JI,
I really hoped you would win and India would get a strong leadership.India always has hard working people and with your policies Indians would have got what they truly deserved but thanks to t.v. spokesmen who deliberately tried to decline your impression on general people… if BJP would have been in power it would have surely brought black money back lower down corruption , increased industries and overall development would have certainly made India a golden country once again…..
I HOPE U COME ACROSS THIS COMMENT
Advaniji,
Just be careful with the Media. Media is shameless and arrogant. Please ask your leaders to stay away from NDTV, CNN-IBN and all these idiotic english channels which want to demonize BJP and destroy it.
Congress is the number one enemy of the country,as it is utterly destroying the so called secular fundamentals by appeasing the minorities at every step. They don’t have any love for Hindus.
Please elect a strong and a good leader to lead BJP . Also, focus heavily on key states like A.P, T.N, Kerala and W.B. Remove Dattatreya from A.P and replace him with G.Kishan Reddy. A.P has 40 M.P seats and neglecting A.P is like commiting self suicide.