It is July 26, which is Kargil Vijay Diwas. Who is celebrating? The whole country for sure. But did you know that it wasn’t always like that? In fact, the UPA government ignored Kargil Vijay Diwas during its entire first term in power. It is not difficult to guess why.
You might have noticed a strange new tradition among liberals nowadays. Saying kind words about Atalji followed by insults thrown at PM Modi.
While I am thrilled that liberals have grown to respect Atalji so much, we cannot forget how liberals treated him when he was Prime Minister.
While you have probably heard of the time when Sonia ji called Narendra Modi “maut ka saudagar,” here is something you may not have heard. And it makes for an interesting and somewhat ironic story.
In Sep 1999, shortly after the Kargil War, Sonia Gandhi addressed a campaign rally at Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh where she allegedly called Atalji a “gaddar.”
The embarrassed Congress issued various clarifications, such as saying that Sonia Gandhi had never explicitly named Vajpayee in her remarks. I do not know how convincing that is. In 1999, the BJP did not buy the excuses either. One of the BJP general secretaries demanded that Sonia ji should issue a public apology.
The name of that General Secretary? Narendra Modi.
The fact is that the Nehru dynasty could never reconcile itself to a non-Gandhi ruling over India. It could be Vajpayee, it could be Modi. It could even be P V Narasimha Rao, a lifelong Congressman. The formidable PVNR did not rule while being under the thumb of the Nehru dynasty. In Congress, it is the family which is the party.
There is a reason why Congress ecosystem gives credit to Dr. Singh for the 1991 reforms and not to P V Narasimha Rao. And who can forget how PVNR was humiliated even in death? Who can forget how the body of a former Prime Minister of India was not let inside the Congress HQ?
Today the Congress Party loves Vajpayee because he is no more. And because the liberal ecosystem benefited from his deep generosity. You will see Congress leaders sharing how Atalji restored Nehru’s portrait after he became External Affairs Minister in the Janata Government.
Atalji had a big heart. We already knew that. Do the Congress leaders tell you about the incredible pettiness with which they had Veer Savarkar’s plaque removed from Andaman Cellular Jail as soon as UPA came to power?
We should be grateful that Atal ji lived a long life and survived well into the Modi years. When he passed away, he received a farewell that fitted his stature. Otherwise, who knows what kind of indignity the UPA would have inflicted on him had he passed away during their rule?
Incidentally, the Congress has just launched centenary celebrations for P V Narasimha Rao. They spurned his dead body 16 years ago. Today they have come with folded hands, begging for a share in his legacy. Good to know.
We are going to keep reminding them though: how the Congress treated Vajpayee, Rao and the heroes of Kargil. Sab yaad hai. Sab yaad rakha jayega.
