Atal Bihari Vajpayee took oath of the office of the Prime Minister of India on 15th May 1996 for the first time. His government didn’t last long and he finally resigned on 28th May 1996 even before the vote on the Confidence Motion moved by him.
His speech in reply to the debate on the Motion is remembered by all even today. However, very few people remember the speech he gave while moving the Motion on 27th May 1996.
It was a brilliant speech, perhaps far more brilliant than the one at the end of the debate. He was unapologetic about the Hindutva lineage of his party and gave a civilisational context to it. It was for the first time an Indian Prime Minister was uttering in the Parliament the word ‘Hindu’ with such aplomb. Even NaMo has not done it that way since then.
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