On August 16th, a day after India’s 71st Independence Day, Atal Bihari
Vajpayee has long been credited with moderating the BJP’s political position with his centrist
Privatisation
Vajpayee made privatisation a key component of his economic agenda when he set up the disinvestment ministry in 1999. Over the course of his tenure as PM, he oversaw the divestment of government holdings in more than 30 non-strategic public-sector companies such as VSNL, Maruti, Hindustan Zinc and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. What makes this policy all the more impressive is that Vajpayee had to overcome a considerable amount of opposition, not only from rival parties but from within his own Cabinet to implement it.
Nuclearisation
In May 1998, a month after his government came to power, Vajpayee ordered the commencement of five nuclear tests in Rajasthan’s Pokhran district. The move, which signalled India’s nuclear ambitions, drew the ire of Western powers, but it also highlighted India’s ability to defend itself from its neighbour Pakistan, which was building its own nuclear capability at the time. He always maintained that India would not use nuclear weapons first, stating that they would never be “weapons of aggression”.
Upon his death, Vajpayee was hailed as “the father of modern telecom in India” by leaders in the industry. Under his National Telecom policy, which was introduced in 1999, Vajpayee opened up the sector and implemented a number of structural reforms such as making mobile service providers offer services on a revenue share basis as opposed to a fixed-fee arrangement. This led to a reduction in call rates, a dramatic surge in mobile subscribers and encouraged competition among telecom operators.
Roads and infrastructure
While Vajpayee was prime minister, he launched a number of massive infrastructure projects to develop India’s roads and railway network. His government approved and funded the operations of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, which completed the first phase of the Delhi Metro in 2006. He also championed the Golden Quadrilateral scheme, a project to link all four of India’s major urban centers - Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata - by highways. Most importantly, though, was his Pradhanmantri Gramin Sadak Yojna scheme to improve road connectivity in India’s rural regions.
Vajpayee made a number of steps to cement ties with Pakistan, such as the establishment of the Delhi-Lahore bus service in February 1999. He took the bus to Lahore and met with Nawaz Sharif, who was the leader of Pakistan at the time. Their meeting culminated in the signing of the Lahore Treaty, which outlined the country’s plans to steer clear of nuclear warfare. The goodwill was shortlived, however. A full-scale war took place in Kargil the following June. In July 2001, Vajpayee pushed for a peace summit with his new Pakistani counterpart, Pervez Musharraf in Agra. An agreement never materialised over the course of the summit, but not for his lack of trying.