Atal Bihari Vajpayee's journey as a parliamentarian started from Uttar Pradesh's Balrampur district
Atal Bihari Vajpayee's journey as a parliamentarian started from Uttar Pradesh's Balrampur. In 1957, Balrampur sent Atal Bihari Vajpayee to the Lok Sabha for the first time. He later went on to become the country's Prime Minister thrice.
He lost the election when he contested again in 1962, but was re-elected from Balrampur Lok Sabha constituency in 1967.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Vidhan Sabha candidate Surajlal Gupta campaigned together in its Utraula assembly segment in 1967, Jana Sangh worker Ratanlal Gupta, who accompanied them, said.
Ratanlal Gupta said Atal Bihari Vajpayee didn't care about caste and religion, and recalled the time when they stopped at the home of Haider Ali in Mahdeya village.
"It had a good population of Brahmins and we informed him that by having food at his place, his Brahmin vote bank might slip away," Mr Gupta said.
But Atal Bihari Vajpayee laughed this away, punning on the Hindi word 'khisakna' or slipping away.
"Jo khisakna tha, pet me khisak gaya. Ab vote khiske ya rahe," Atal Bihari Vajpayee said, telling his companions that food had already slipped into his stomach, it didn't matter now if the voters slipped away.
"I will not become a Muslim by having food at Ali's place," Atal Bihari Vajpayee told the party worker.
While Atal Bihari Vajpayee won the Lok Sabha seat, Surajlal Gupta lost the assembly polls held simultaneously.
Former lawmaker Sukhdev Prasad, considered close to Atal Bihari Vajpayee, also has a story to tell.
During the 1957 Lok Sabha polls, Motipur resident Hasan Dawood campaigned for Atal Bihari Vajpayee, carrying the Jana Sangh flag, Mr Prasad said.
The lawmaker recalled a Delhi visit years later when they both met Atal Bihar Vajpayee, who was by then the external affairs minister.
"On meeting Dawood, Atalji hugged him," Mr Prasad said.
As Atal Bihari Vajpayee was going abroad, he asked Hasan Dawood to accompany him up to the airport so that they could talk, the former lawmaker said.
He said Hasan Dawood's family still remembers Atal Bihari Vajpayee, he said.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee was cremated in Delhi today.