Atal Bihari Vajpayee
– Photo: Amar Ujala
Expansion
A little disrespect of the tongue spoils the political atmosphere. The seat was Balrampur, MP was Atal Bihari Vajpayee. In the general elections of 1962, he was contesting for the third time on Jan Sangh ticket. In front of him was Congress candidate Subhadra Joshi.
Atal’s one quip spoiled the political atmosphere so much that he had to face defeat. Political experts say that Congress candidate Subhadra Joshi often said during the election campaign that if she won the election, she would be available to serve the public 24 hours a day for twelve months and thirty days of the month.
This statement of his was becoming quite popular. Its discussion had even reached Atal. Atal Bihari Vajpayee took a dig at his statement in a meeting during the election campaign. Said, ‘Subhadra ji says that she will serve the voters on all 30 days of the month. I ask, how will you do it? For some days in the month, women are not fit to serve.
At that time there was no reaction in the meeting and Atal became busy in his campaign. But this matter became a topic of discussion in the entire parliamentary constituency. Congress candidate Subhadra Joshi, in response to this, simply said that it is not she who will take revenge for this insult, but her voters.