Summary:
Vajpayee was at his best, they said, at a meeting held at Shivaji Park on December 24, 1984 to felicitate him on his 60th birthday. He thus widened BJP’s social base,” said Bhatkhalkar.For years, Vajpayee, when in Mumbai, stayed with Vedprakash Goyal at the latter’s Sion apartment. MUMBAI: BJP functionaries reminisced on AB Vajpayee’s close links with Mumbai since his stint as Jan Sangh leader.“Atalji made many key speeches in Mumbai,” recalled Atul Bhatkhalkar, BJP MLA from Kandivli. More rounds of applause, and he added wryly: “Where were you all on the day of voting?”Eleven years later, L K Advani publicly declared, at a BJP conclave at Shivaji Park, Vajpayee as BJP’s prime ministerial nominee. “Atalji’s speech as PM at Worli’s Jamboree maidan to mark Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar’s birth centenary was thought-provoking..