The RSS suggested to the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2002 that he should become the President as it would be “less taxing” in view of his knee trouble, reveals senior BJP leader L K Advani. The suggestion was made by Rajju Bhaiyya, then RSS Sarsanghchalak who had a meeting with Vajpayee at the Prime Minister’s residence, writes Advani in his memoirs My country my life.The meeting took place at a time when there was intense media speculation of the RSS wielding enormous influence over the BJP leadership and believed to be calling the shots on several important issues. Advani made a mention of a “significant development” that took place at that time. “One day, I received a call from Prof Rajju Bhaiyya, who was then Sarsanghchalak of the RSS, saying that he wanted to discuss something important with me. “I invited him over the following morning and, over breakfast, he narrated to me the details of a meeting he had with Atalji the previous evening,” recalls Advani.Rajju Bhaiyya told him about the meeting with Vajpayee. The reasons for the suggestion, the RSS chief explained, was “principally that, in view of his knee trouble, it would be less taxing for him to shoulder the responsibility of Rashtrapati Bhavan”. Besides, the people would consider him to be the ideal choice in view of his stature and experience, Rajju Bhaiyya added to drive home his point.Advani said he had asked the RSS chief about Vajpayee’s response. “Vajpayee said neither yes nor no. I, therefore, thought that he has not rejected my suggestion,” Rajju Bhaiyya told Advani.The BJP leader said he had mentioned to Rajju Bhaiyya that the NDA leaders had unanimously resolved to authorise the Prime Minister to finalise a suitable, nationally acceptable candidate. “In the end, everybody unanimously accepted Atalji’s decision in the matter,” recounts Advani.Vajpayee, 84, has kept out of public gaze for sometime on health grounds. Vajpayee had skipped the meeting of the BJP national executive in Bhopal in September last and is conspicuous by his absence in Lok Sabha in recent months. Giving an insight to the talks between the BJP and NDA partners in the early part of 2002, Advani said one of the overriding criteria was “we wanted the person to be preferably outside the ranks of the BJP because of our keen desire to convey a message to the nation that our party believed in inclusivity”.The choice “surprisingly” zeroed in on P C Alexander, then Maharashtra Governor, who was closely associated with two former Prime Ministers. Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, of the Congress. Advani said it was he who had first proposed Alexander’s name to Vajpayee and other key NDA leaders. Vajpayee had readily agreed to his suggestion.
