432 pages Publisher Juggernaut Publication date 28 December 2021 Kindle Edition ₹522.50, Hardcover ₹550.00
Conflict of Inner and Outer Domain: The legacy of Atal Bihari Vajpayee
by Dr. Bilpove Kumar 29 August 2022
The biographical sketch of one of India’s former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee by Sagarika Ghose remains both alluring and appalling. In fact the whole sketch remains an oscillating exercise between several such converse adjectives. The author herself describe her subject as ‘middle compound’ and that – ‘liberal, illiberal, conservative, progressive – rigid definitions did not suit Vajpayee and his politics of poetic ambiguity’.
The book itself is a part of assertion in our times, when democratic framework and institutions attached to our republic are in tatters. Since, the Moditva era (2014), it has been a practise to find refuge, draw parallels and impart Vajpayeeism with more vigour to enlighten the state of its abuses. And Through her biographical exercise of Vajpayee – Ghose duly accept her refuge and assertion of a liberal mindset in a Parliamentary democracy; to which her book is duly dedicated.
Vajpayee remains the most charismatic and enigmatic political figure of Independent India. He not only grew with the new nation which was born in 1947, but also nourished it from the helm. His legacy in a sense ran in tandem with the workings India’s democracy. In an insightful manner Ghose pans out his legacy and imprints on India’s political fabric. Her sketch captures the vivid trajectory of a poet and Swayamsevak politician – right from the streets of Gwalior to the Parliament.
Ghose rightly captures with her brutal honesty the conflict between Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s inner and outer domains. The outer domain is being represented by his political affiliations with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) and other right wing outfits with whom his lifelong engagement can never be denied. He too never tried to hide away his political and ideological house, to which he duly returned. Right from defending the ideas and ideals of Hindutva school of thought on streets and in Parliament, to harvesting the political benefits created and crafted by the movement like Ram Mandir – Vajpayee at crucial moments choose to fail the test of constitutional democracy, rather to clean up his own house.
The inner domain of Vajpayee as reflected in the writings of Ghose, represents Vajpayee as an evolving soul. This particular inner domain was inspired by Nehru, Gandhis and the idea of India which was composed by the fathers and mothers of this great nation. The cult of ‘Vajpaayeeism’ as pointed out by Ghose and which remains quite different from present day Moditava – was in fact crucial part of this inner domain. Vajpayee’s undaunted faith in Parliamentary Democracy and its institutions, his friendships, love and respect across the party lines, idea of Kashmiriyat, his international views and representation of India globally etc., sprouts out from this inner domain. Ghose defines evolving Vajpayee as a leader, ‘who drove the Hindutva Tiger’. And to substantiate this argument further – the same tiger in contemporary times have politicised his outer domain vigorously with its new aggressive rider and trying to devour his inner domain of Vajpaayeeism.
Beyond the political Atal, Ghose also dives into the personal life of her subject. Right from his love for food and whisky, to his personal friendships (which cut across the party lines) and his epic love triangle, she weaves her narrative with factual journalistic certitudes. But the complex and unorthodox relationship of Vajpayee with his love interest Rajkumari Haskar and later wife of Professor Brij Narain Kaul; who all stayed under the same roof, duly dominates the space. He famously compared his relationship to ‘Kashmir’ and proudly opined once that, ‘Mai kuwara hun Brahmchari nahi’. In similitude with the inner political contradictions with the Hindutva brigade, this particular aspect of his life too was in conflict with them. But Ghose points out as to how the necessity of political Atal, reduced RSS and other right wing groups just to a gossip box.
To a larger extent the book aptly justifies the legacy of Atal Bihari Vajpyee and his Vajpyeeism. But it also remains more subjectively alienated towards the liberal or Parlimentarian Vajpayee. Or maybe the extremes of Moditva and absence of strong oppositional narratives have allowed Ghose to follow the trajectory in which we all are trapped in, that is – to find some solace in a Hindutva hero who duly respected our democratic institutions and constitutional ethos.
To conclude, the idea of Atal Bihari Vajpyee in our contemporary times can be compared to a Roman myhtlogical two faced god known as ‘Janus’. According to Roman mythology Janus was present at the beginning of the world. And as the God of heaven gates, he holds key in his ‘right hand’. He represents the middle ground between abstract dualities such as war and peace or Barbarism and civilization. Similarly, Vajpayee was present when the idea of India was carved out and he duly carried the key to power in his right hand which represented Hindutva democratic politics and duly represented the middle ground through his inner and outer domain. And the more we are moving towards extremism, the more we remember the middle compound or two faced god known as Atal BihariVajpyee.