Politics is the ultimate high-stakes game and no one can be trusted: brother, son, daughter, wife, husband or son-in-law.
In the BJP, there were two primary stalwarts and long-standing friends and there was a huge power struggle between them: Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani.
Naturally, these two gentlemen had their own groups of supporters and the ultimate prize they vied for was the Prime Ministership.
Ultimately, Vajpayee did beat Advani to it and the latter had to settle for second best position of Home Minister. But Advani himself recalled an amazing aspect of Vajpayee during the period when the NDA was in power then.
Whenever someone approached Vajpayee with a problem relating to the government or the Party, his invariable reply would be: “Advaniji se baath hui, tho phir kar lo ek baar, phir hum tay karenge.” (Did you speak with Advaniji? Please talk to him and I’ll then make a decision.)
This showed the immense respect Vajpayee gave Advani and the trust he had in the latter despite both of them being rivals.
It also showed that Vajpayee was a man without any insecurity. He never believed in hitting below the belt. That was why, he was so well-respected, loved and admired by even the Opposition.
In today’s politics, can we imagine Modi or a Chandrababu or someone responding in the manner that Vajpayee did? There never was and never will be another like Atalji!