Kapadwanj makes it up to the PM

KAPADWANJ, Aug 23: The adulation was apparent. The loud cheering that greeted the landing of his IAF chopper was spontaneous, the boys wh...

KAPADWANJ, Aug 23: The adulation was apparent. The loud cheering that greeted the landing of his IAF chopper was spontaneous, the boys who clamoured up the barricades just to wave at him were ecstatic and the women who squatted firmly in the front rows covered by VIP dust, were overwhelmed.

After the debacle of Surendranagar, it was a visibly relieved Atal Behari Vajpayee who surveyed the crowd of more than one lakh, that sat squinting in the sun at the Kapadwanj College Ground and surrounding rooftops in anticipatory silence so hushed that one could hear BJP paper flags fluttering in the hot afternoon breeze.

If the personality cult in the BJP was evident so far only on paper, here was improvisation. The man — admired even by critics — sold himself extremely stylishly. Though maintaining the royal “hum” throughout, he spoke of former PMs who had faced corruption charges, and then he spoke of his spotless reputation, his integrity, support to the Congress Government in 1971, long 45 years in the opposition, his commitment to getting the Lokpal Bill passed.

“There are other parties who don’t want the PM to face corruption charges but I want the PM to come under the Lokpal Bill. Mere daman par koi daag nahin hai, main jaisa aya tha vaisa hi saaf chala jaoonga”, he said with the familiar wave of his hand that had the crowds cheering.

Then there were references to the famous phone call from Bill Clinton asking him to come to America while Nawaz Sharif was there that he declined so firmly, the nuclear tests at Pokhran that were undertaken against international opinion, the fall of the BJP Government by just one vote. “Even we could have bought people. Aisa nahin tha ki mandi mein maal nahin tha. Sach to yeh hai ki koi kharidaar nahin tha,” he said to thunderous applause.

Right from the beginning it was apparent the people wanted to hear only about Kargil and Vajpayee, strictly in that order. And he gave them what they wanted. He paid humble respects to Kargil martyr Dineshbhai Vaghela of Nirmali and his parents, who were present in the gathering, he assured the people that the martyrs’ sacrifices would not be forgotten, their families would be taken care of, he justified his trip to Pakistan by saying his sanskar’ were such that he would even go to the devil, if invited.

Even the cardboard cutouts on the stage, this time not daring to sport soldiers, had a map of the country and the snow covered Himalayas. The PM refused to talk about Sonia Gandhi, he did not name Shankarsinh Vaghela who is contesting from here, though he did speak of leaders leaving their party for power and called upon the people to teach such people a lesson. And he also made no plea to the people to vote for the local candidate Jaisinh Chavan. Instead, he implored the voters not to get swayed by local loyalties and give the BJP the one vote by which it lost majority.

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For Galaji Chandaji, a farmer from Dehgam, who had travelled 30 km by matador to reach the venue, it was a journey well made. “Fifty people have come from our village and 50 per cent vote will go to BJP,” he said. “Shankarsinh Vaghela cannot talk like Vajpayee. He is a characterless dalbadlu,” said shopkeeper Dinesh Kesarbhai. Youngster Jalpa Bisuthan was undecided. “This is the first time I have heard Vajpayee speaking and I’m really impressed,” he said.