New Delhi, Mar 30: It is Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee all the way in the BJP's Vision Document 2004, with the 48-page paper carrying as many as 54 photographs of him compared to just three of his Deputy L K Advani. Starting from the cover page where Vajpayee's photograph is prominently shown, the document has a dozen full-page pictures of the Prime Minister, including a rare shot showing him using a ''charkha'' (spinning wheel) at the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad and another taken at Pokharan after the May 1998 nuclear tests.
Other pictures include Vajpayee staging a 'satyagrah' in Rajasthan against the Simla Agreement in 1972, leading a march in 1962 during the India-China stand-off, presiding over a meeting of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh and addressing a rally in 1955 to show solidarity with the Goa liberation struggle.
In another set of picture Vajpayee's interaction with religious leaders has been captured. The snaps show the Prime Minister sitting with Muslim clergy at an Iftar party, receiving a Christian delegation, offering prayers at a Gurdwara and visiting a temple in south India. In the inside cover page, both Vajpayee and Advani are seen ''together in service of the nation for over half a century – 1952 to 2004.''
Party president M Venkaiah Naidu's photograph is seen on a couple of pages in the document.
The document heaps praise on Vajpayee for his leadership: ''Atalji's leadership: A source of immense pride''.
The BJP is also proud that it has given India and the world a leader of the caliber of Vajpayee.
Bureau Report