Vajpayee, Atal Bihari

born Dec. 15, 1924, Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India

Leader of India's pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and prime minister of India in 1996 and from 1998 to 2004.

Politically active as a teenager, he was briefly jailed by British colonial authorities. He was first elected to parliament in 1957 as a member of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, a forerunner of the BJP. He served as foreign minister in the late 1970s and helped formally establish the BJP in 1980. In 1992 he was one of the few Hindu leaders to speak out against the destruction of the historic Babri Masjid mosque by anti-Muslim extremists. Elected prime minister in May 1996, he was unable to form a government and resigned after 13 days. In 1998 and 1999 he was again elected prime minister as head of a BJP-led coalition. In May 1998 nuclear weapons tests ordered by Vajpayee drew international condemnation and economic sanctions. In 2000 his government began an extensive program of divestment of public funds from several key state-run industries. Under his leadership India achieved steady economic growth and became a world leader in information technology. In 2004 his coalition was defeated in parliamentary elections, and he resigned from office.

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▪ 1999

      In May 1998 India exploded five nuclear bombs in quick succession, reminding the world that the nuclear era was far from over. Though condemnation for the acts was nearly universal in the West, India's newly elected prime minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, struck a defiant tone. Undaunted by the economic sanctions imposed by the U.S. and Japan and supported by his countrymen, Vajpayee declared that "India has the sanction of her own past glory and future vision to become strong." Prior to elections in early 1998, Vajpayee had been viewed by many as the moderate face of the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

      Vajpayee was born on Dec. 25, 1926, in the town of Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh. He became politically active as a teenager and was briefly jailed by the British colonial administration. Though initially attracted to communism, he became disillusioned when the communists supported the creation of Pakistan in the 1940s. Vajpayee dropped out of law school and became editor of a publication run by the Hindu-nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a self-defense force created in 1925 to protect Hindus in riots and promote Hindu culture.

      Vajpayee was first elected to Parliament in 1957 as a member of the Jan Sangh, a forerunner of the BJP. During Indira Gandhi's rule as prime minister under a state of emergency (1975-77), he was jailed along with thousands of opposition members. In the late '70s Vajpayee served as foreign minister and earned a reputation for improving relations with Pakistan and China. He helped found the BJP in 1980, but his moderation was overpowered by hard-liners. Vajpayee—one of the few Hindu leaders to speak out against the 1992 destruction of the historic Muslim mosque at Ayodhya—was sworn in as prime minister in May 1996 but served only 13 days in office, failing to attract needed support from other parties. In 1998 the BJP won a record number of seats but was forced to make a shaky alliance with regional parties, many of which opposed Hindu nationalism.

      Though Vajpayee had campaigned on the promise of international "peace and reconciliation" and been praised for his eloquence, integrity, and conciliatory gestures toward India's 120 million Muslim minority, relations with Pakistan deteriorated in the months following the nuclear explosions. Despite pleas from the international community urging India and Pakistan to hold peace talks, Vajpayee and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan found it difficult even to agree on the topics open for discussion.

BENJAMIN SCHALET

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▪ prime minister of India

Bihari also spelled  Behari  

born December 25, 1924, Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India

      leader of the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and twice prime minister of India (1996; 1998–2004).

      Vajpayee was first elected to Parliament in 1957 as a member of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS), a forerunner of the BJP. In 1977 the BJS joined three other parties to form the Janata Party, which led a government that lasted until July 1979. As foreign minister in the Janata government, Vajpayee earned a reputation for improving relations with Pakistan and China. In 1980, following a split in the Janata Party, Vajpayee helped the BJS to reorganize itself as the BJP. In 1992 he was one of the few Hindu leaders to speak out against the destruction of the historic mosque at Ayodhya by anti-Muslim extremists.

      Vajpayee was sworn in as prime minister in May 1996 but was in office only 13 days, after failing to attract support from other parties. In early 1998 he again became prime minister, in elections in which the BJP won a record number of seats, but he was forced to make a shaky alliance with regional parties. In 1999 the BJP increased its seats in Parliament and consolidated its hold on government.

      Although considered a pragmatist, Vajpayee assumed a defiant posture in the face of Western criticism of India's testing of several nuclear weapons in 1998. He had earlier been praised for his conciliatory gestures toward India's Muslim minority. In 2000 his government began an extensive program of divestment of public funds from several key state-run industries. In 2002 Vajpayee's government was criticized for its slowness in reacting to riots in Gujarat in which some 1,000 people (primarily Muslims) died. Nevertheless, in 2003 Vajpayee made a concerted effort to resolve India's long-running feud with Pakistan over the Kashmir region. Under his leadership, India achieved steady economic growth, and the country became a world leader in information technology, though the poorer elements of Indian society often felt left out of the economic prosperity. In 2004 his coalition was defeated in the parliamentary election, and he resigned from office.

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