Once there was a leader...

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So it's final. The BJP's candidate for the Lucknow Lok Sabha constituency is Lalji Tandon. The 72-year-old Tandon, who most of you got to know after the infamous saree stampede case in the 2007 UP Assembly elections, is a seasoned politician of some standing in local politics of the Hindi heartland. He was the most likely choice for his party to replace his predecessor, former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee as he had earned the reputation of being Vajpayee's point person in Lucknow. But as a voter from Lucknow, my question is, has the BJP really found a candidate worthy of stepping into Vajpayee's shoes?

Vajpayee's legacy is not just about the milestones he reached in his political career -- eight-time Lok Sabha MP, twice in the Rajya Sabha, the Foreign Minister in 1977, three-time Prime Minister of India. It's his skills and abilities as a parliamentarian and his personal political record and reputation that set him apart from the rest of the herd. When he talked, Atal Bihari Vajpayee could make people sit up and pay attention. Whether it was impressing the Opposition -- Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru personally congratulated him in Parliament and prophetically said he could be the Prime Minister someday, while Narasimha Rao sent him as part of the Indian delegation to address the UN General Assembly during his tenure -- or when he was enthralling the masses that crowded the grounds of each rally or public meeting where he was supposed to speak. People did not just come to his rallies because they were promised free food and clothes but they actually looked forward to hearing his impassioned and fiery speeches. Vajpayee belonged to that breed of politicians who realised the necessity of a public leader being a good orator and communicator. Most of our parliamentarians who waste our time and money by disrupting Parliament should take a leaf out of his book and put their vocal chords to more constructive use.

As a politician, Vajpayee had the tact and the interpersonal skills to communicate across party lines. Having friends across all political parties does not mean you are weakening your ideology or that your loyalties are questionable. It means you are an intelligent and pragmatic politician who realises that to govern well in a democracy you need allies. He was respected outside his own party and parivar.

This bachelor-politician also enjoyed a clean reputation, free from the tarnish of personal scandals, criminal records and disproportionate assets.

Without getting into a critique of his tenure as Prime Minister which ended in 2004, most people would agree with me when I say that Atal Bihari Vajpayee has acquired an image and a reputation independent of his party and its politics.

Ask the voters in Lucknow who voted Vajpyee to the Lok Sabha five times consecutively. When we went and voted for Vajpayee, we were voting for Vajpayee. He was not just the BJP candidate but a leader, orator and parliamentarian who had earned our respect. It did not matter which way the political winds were blowing in Uttar Pradesh or which political party was the flavour of the season. When Atalji went out campaigning for votes, he made you believe that he would deliver. You knew what he stood for and there were no surreptitious whispers casting a shadow on him.

Look at the choices we have before us in Lucknow for the 2009 General Elections. Akhilesh Das from the BSP, actor Sanjay Dutt from the SP and Lalji Tandon from the BJP. The Congress has not even decided on a candidate to fight Vajpayee's legacy and claim the seat from the BJP. Can any of these contestants inspire and win over Lucknow the way Vajpayee continued to do election after election? Do any of them have the standing or the calibre to match up to the statesman who shone both in the Indian and international political arena?

Over the next two months, Lucknow will be wooed and lured by promises and leaders who aspire to be our representatives in the 15th Lok Sabha. Some of us will vote because we enjoyed Lage Raho Munnabhai , some will vote because the candidate is from the same caste as them and some because their families have been voting for the same party over the years. Decisions will be made, votes will be cast. After all the show must go on. But along the way, our former representative Atal Bihari Vajpayee will be remembered and missed.