Bheeshma Pitamah of Indian politics - Atal Bihari Vajpayee's Instances with Women

Atal Bihari Vajpayee our 10th Prime Minister passed away yesterday at the age of 93 years. He was the boldest and most straight-forward leader the nation ever had.

It was because of him several big achievements in India’s growth and journey were made possible. Some of which were -

• “Look East policy”, this policy helped in improving India’s ties with South-East Asian Countries.
• Efforts to Normalise ties with Pakistan - He started the Delhi to Lahore bus service and went to Pakistan to meet the then PM of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif.
• Pokhran-II - Putting India on the Nuclear Power Map was also possible under his regime, as he boldly granted the permission to conduct covert Nuclear Bomb Test in Pokhran.
• Operation Vijay - Giving a heavy defeat to Pakistan in 1999 Kargil War.
• Sarva Siksha Abhiyan - Making education for children aged 6 to 14 years a fundamental right.

And much more…

Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his instances with Women

We all know that he was a member of RSS, which is often considered to be the fiercest opposer of modernization of women in India.

With this, a person would expect every RSS member to have, the same stereotypical thoughts about women, but Vajpayee Ji was entirely different.

Here are a few instances to support this thought -

1) Adopted his Classmate’s Daughter

Atal Bihari Vajpayee always remained a bachelor and never got married. But he adopted the daughter of his college classmate - Rajkumari Kaul. There were many rumors of his love affairs with Rajkumari Kaul, but both always kept the clean image of good friends and decided not to pass any clarifications to the media about them. His daughter's name is Namita Bhattacharya.

2) His thoughts about Women in Politics

At a Seminar on Democracy in Internal Party Structures by Women’s Politician Watch (an NPO) in 1999, he talked about the then hierarchy structure of Political parties and the lack of women leaders in Indian Politics, and how could women help bring the positive changes in India’s Political Scenario.

Here’s the video - 

(Also Read - 30 Reasons Why Women Should Work)

3) Referred to Indira Gandhi as Durga -

After India’s victory in Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, he referred to Indira Gandhi (then Prime Minister of India) as “Durga” for her bold decision making against the adversities during the time of war.

However, he later regretted referring her as Durga, during the 1975-1977 Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi.

Altogether, this definitely would make most of us realize that Atal Bihari Vajpayee was certainly not alike other RSS Leaders on his thoughts about Women, and was really supportive towards women empowerment and growth.