SILCHAR, Aug 19 - Rich tributes were paid to former Prime Minister of India Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee by people of Silchar in a citizens� meet organised by the Cachar district BJP today.
Veteran journalist and a poet Atin Das in his speech said, �I had written obituaries for as many as ten Prime Ministers in my career so far, but I have never come across a leader as tall as Atal ji. He stands apart from his predecessors and successive Prime Ministers with his vision and quest to develop India�s North East. It is because of the efforts of Atalji that the BJP in North East is standing tall and reaping the benefits.�
Cachar Deputy Commissioner Dr S Laxmanan also paid homage to Vajpayee by saying, �It has been a week of massive losses to the nation. MK Karunanidhi�s death on August 7 was a big jolt to regional politics,especially in South India. We lost ex-Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee on August 13, whose ideologies were gauged with international politics.
But losing former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was a body blow to all of us. It is because of him that projects like the golden quadrilateral is connecting Silchar as well.�
State Minister for Forest and Environment Parimal Suklabaidya also recollected memories of working as a party cadre with Vajpayee. Former Union Minister and an ex-colleague of Vajpayee Kabindra Purakayastha recollected notable events from Vajpayee�s life in his speech on the occasion.
