Vice president M Venkaiah Naidu Friday fondly recollected former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had an uncanny ability to connect with people from all walks of life and with political parties of different ideological moorings.
He said Vajpayee had taught everybody to serve country selflessly and to remain committed to principles of humanism & tolerance. He virtually had no enemies and was rightly called as "Ajatshatru", Naidu said.
Naidu Friday unveiled the portrait of the former prime minister at the Rabindranath Tagore Centre, ICCR here.
The country is observing Vajpayee's first death anniversary Friday.
"Atal Ji had an uncanny ability to connect with people from all walks of life and with political parties of different ideological moorings. Atal Ji had virtually no enemies and was rightly called as Ajatshatru. #atalji #AtalBihariVajpayee," Vice President Secretariat said in a tweet quoting Naidu.
He strongly believed in a "forward-looking, forward moving India", a strong and prosperous nation confident of its rightful place on the international fora, Naidu said.
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"He firmly believed that India has a legitimate right to becoming a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council," Naidu said in an another tweet.
Vajpayeeji was a statesman and a visionary and he was not only one of the tallest leaders of the country but was also one of the most loved leaders, he said.
Recollecting his contributions towards strenghtening democracy, Naidu said Vajpayee demonstrated how democracy can be strengthened through good governance and the former prime minister ushered in a connectivity revolution in the country.
"Atal ji gave an unprecedented fillip to the building of national highways, rural roads, air travel infrastructure and massive expansion of the telecom sector. For him, connectivity was the key enabler of economic development and national growth," Naidu, who served in the NDA government of A B Vajpayee, said.