A look into the lesser-known chapter of India's former Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee with Rajkumari Kaul, who was married to Brij Narain Kaul.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee is one of the few politicians in the history of Indian politics who is respected by the opposition parties even today. Considered among the most loved politicians in Indian politics, he was much more than the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) successful leader and the 10th Prime Minister of India. Atal Bihari Vajpayee was a Hindi poet renowned for penning a series of poems and prose in his lifetime.
Some of his published poetries include Qaidi Kaviraj Ki Kundaliyan, Kya Khoya Kya Paya, Chuni Hui Kavitaen and many more. Atal Bihari Vajpayee was born on March 19, 1924, and his birth anniversary is celebrated as 'Good Governance Day', which speaks volumes about his legacy. For his incredible contribution to Indian politics, Atal Bihari Vajpayee was bestowed with Padma Vibhushan in 1992 and Bharat Ratna in 2015. He was ranked nine in Outlook magazine's 2012 poll of The Greatest Indian.
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Atal Bihari Vajpayee was one of the few politicians who always presented his real-life image to the public. From openly saying that he is a 'Kunwara' and not a 'Brahmachari' to admitting that he is a non-vegetarian and even consumes alcohol, Atal Bihari Vajpayee never painted a different picture of himself in the eyes of Indians in order to get votes like the mainstream politicians. His honesty is why he was India's Prime Minister for a total premiership of 6 years and 80 days, the fifth longest term in India.
Apart from being a respectable politician, whose memorable speech in the parliament back in 1996 is still remembered as one of the greatest speeches ever in Indian politics, Atal Bihari Vajpayee was a people's politician. Talking about his personal life, he remained unmarried for life and also never revealed the real reason behind it. Time and again, we have seen him addressing the topic of not being married in his interviews. Once, in an old interview, he admitted that he was caught up in events and that time for marriage had passed by. He said:
"My life got taken over by events, I got caught up in them and vivaah ka muhurat nikal gaya."
Rajkumari Kaul was born as Rajkumari Haksar in Kashmir back in 1921, and she shared a family connection with the former Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi. Not much information about their relationship is out in the public domain, but they were connected by blood. However, more than Indira Gandhi, it was Rajkumari's association with Atal Bihari Vajpayee that became the highlight of her life. Despite being married to a professor, Brij Narain Kaul, she was more renowned for her friendship with Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
According to a report in Zee News, Atal Bihari Vajpayee met Rajkumari Haksar for the first time while studying at Gwalior's Victoria College (now known as Laxmi Bai College). They were quite good at their studies, used to take part in a series of intellectual activities and eventually became friends. However, as time passed, they started developing feelings for each other. They were attracted towards each other but never came into a relationship because of a book. Yes! You read it right. According to a report in Mangalore Today, Atal Bihari Bajpayee and Rajkumari Haksar were close friends and used to write letters to each other.
After some time, Atal Bihari gathered the courage and decided to tell Rajkumari everything about his feelings for her. The former PM left the love letter in a book and kept it in the library. Unfortunately, Rajkumari couldn't get hold of the book and never got the chance to read the love letter. It was so unfortunate, and soon Rajkumari's father, Govind Narain Haksar, got his daughter married to a professor named, Brij Narain Kaul. While Rajkumari moved on with her married life, Atal Bihari remained unmarried and became a tall figure in Indian politics.
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Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Rajkumari Kaul met once again at Delhi University when the former was appointed as a chief guest to give a speech at Ramjas College. After a gap of 16 years, when Atal Bihari and Rajkumari met once again, she was someone's wife while he was still a bachelor. According to a report in Zee News, after their meeting at Ramjas College, Atal Bihari started meeting Rajkumari more frequently and even bonded well with her husband, Brij Narain Kaul.
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In the following years, Atal Bihari Vajpayee picked a series of ladders in his political career and by 1978, he was an important minister in Morarji Desai's government. At that time, Atal Bihari was living in Delhi's Lutyens' house, and soon Rajkumari Kaul shifted into his home with her husband, Brij Narain Kaul and their daughter, Namita. As per a report in Zee News, many politicians and RSS leaders advised Atal Bihari to marry Rajkumari or stop living with her, but he turned down both options.
Once, in a rare interview, Atal Bihari Vajpayee opened up about his relationship with Rajkumari Kaul and explained it in a poetic way, "Affair ka charcha nahin kiya jaata hai saravajanik rup se." In another interview, he gave a cryptic answer about meeting a lady but how things didn't turn in his favour. He said, "I was in search of the ideal wife, and I found her, but she was too in search of an ideal husband." For the unversed, Atal Bihari Vajpayee adopted Rajkumari's daughter, Namita, who fulfilled all the duties at his funeral.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Rajkumari Kaul lived together for many years, along with the latter's husband, Brij Narain Kaul and their daughter, Namita, in the same house. Despite the doting husband having no issues with his wife, Rajkumari's bond with Atal Bihari Vajpayee, people painted their bond differently for their political agendas. Once, in an old interview with a news portal, Rajkumari Kaul talked about her special friend, Atal Bihari Vajpayee. She stated that Atal is way too mature for anyone to understand and her relationship with Brij Narain Kaul is way too strong to be dented by such gossips.
What are your thoughts on Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Rajkumari Kaul's incomplete love story? Let us know.
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