Rewind to ’96: The PM signs off

Mr Speaker, I have been a critic of the Governments all these 40 years. Today , most of the time, I had to listen to criticism. There is a saying in Marathi, Nindkache ghar asave shoujari, aie nindak niyare rahiye, aangan kuti chhabaye. You should keep your critic near you, otherwise sycophants will spoil you. If you have a critic, he will keep you spotless without any cost…

Mr Speaker, I would like to extend my special thanks to Mr George Fernandes of the Samata Party, Sirpotdarji of the Shiv Sena, Barnalaji of the Akali Dal and Jai Prakashji of the Haryana Vikas Party who have supported my motion. Those who have criticised it will get an answer to their criticism. However, I would especially like to mention Shri Murasoli Maran.

I have a special word of gratitude for my dear friend, Murasoli Maran. Despite our differences on certain issues, he was generous enough to set the record straight on the issue of horse trading by stating categorically that we did not use suitcases to convert our minority into majority. He has in fact demolished the baseless and politically motivated allegation levelled by some members. I am also glad that Thiru Maran has taken note of our resolve to restore the balance of resources in favour of the states.

We have always held the option that the Centre cannot be strong if the states are weak. Thiru Maran is disturbed over our advocacy of one nation, one people, one culture. I am happy that he shares our perception of one nation. But I must say that he has got it all wrong on our interpretation of one people and one culture. I categorically state here that the BJP does not stand for uniformity. We recognise India’s multireligious, multilingual and multiethnic character. This view is best reflected in a poem by none other than one of India’s greatest poets, Subramaniam Bharati. The poem is entitled, ‘E Thaai’, ie, ‘My mother’. I would like to read it in Tamil. It says: Muppadhu kodi magamudaiyal/Vyyir moimburam ondruiyal/Lval cheppoumzhi pad inettudaiyal/Enil Sindhanai ondrudaiyual. I am not doing this for the first time. I had also read something in Tamil in my address in the United Nations. Its Hindi translation is like this: Tees koti mukhmandal wali hai meri maan/Ek hai uski kaya aur atma/Bhashayen wah atbarab bolti hai/Kintu ek hai uska chintan.

Mr Speaker, an allegation has been levelled against me that I have a lust for power and whatever I did during the last ten days was nothing but lust for power. This allegation has hurt me deep in my heart. Just now, I said that I have been in Parliament for forty years. The hon’ble members have seen my behaviour and my conduct. I had been in the government with my friends in the Janata Dal. I have never done anything wrong in pursuit of power. Shri Sharad Pawar is sitting here. He was not present in the House when Shri Jaswant Singh was speaking. He said in his speech that Shri Pawar had caused a split in his party to form the government with our support. Whether he formed the government for the sake of power or for the good of Maharashtra is a different matter, but the fact remains that he caused a split in his party and cooperated with us. But I did nothing of this sort. During the course of this debate a remark has been made repeatedly that personally Vajpayee is a good leader but his party not good…Sir, I won’t name anybody. I did not want to name even Sharadji. If I am offered power with a new alliance at the cost of a split in my party, I would be the last person even to remotely entertain such an idea.

Na bhito maranadasmi kewalam dusthito yash, Lord Rama has said that ‘I do not fear death, if at all I fear anything, I fear a bad name, I fear public odium’. My political career spanning 40 years has been an open book. But when the electorate voted us as the single largest party, should we have rejected their mandate? When the hon’ble president invited me to form the government and told me that the oath of the council of ministers would take place the next day and the majority should be proved by the 31st, should I have run away from shouldering the responsibility?…

Excerpted from A.B. Vajpayee’s speech during the Motion of Confidence of May 28, 1996, after a nationally televised debate. Having failed to muster the necessary majority support at the end of the debate, he said he was resigning after being a prime minister for 13 days.