BJP leaders pay tributes to Vajpayee

‘He sowed the seeds of self-reliance’

BJP State president Somu Veerraju and other party leaders paid rich tributes to former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on the occasion of his third death anniversary here on Monday.

Addressing the gathering, Mr. Veerraju said it was Vajpayee who had pioneered the concept of good governance and initiated some path-breaking reforms.

“Vajpayee was a man of impeccable character and personal integrity and the nation made rapid strides during his reign. It was in those years that the infrastructure sector witnessed a boom and the MGNREGS had prevented mass migrations,” Mr. Veerraju said, adding that the credit for the BJP’s emergence as a strong alternative to the Congress goes to Vajpayee, whose audacious step of testing a nuclear device at Pokhran had catapulted India on to the international stage as a rising power.

“The seeds of self-reliance were sown when Vajpayee was at the helm of affairs. The technology denial regime had little impact as the former PM had foiled the conspiracy of some developed countries to thwart India’s growth ambitions,” the BJP leader observed.

BJP leaders P.V.N. Madhav, S. Vishnuvardhan Reddy, Suryanarayana Raju, L. Gandhi, A. Sriram, V. Srinivasa Raju and Lakshmipathi Raja were among those present.