Vajpayee Ji was a towering, visionary leader and an able statesman. He was a Democrat to the core, and despite his strong political and ideological differences with the Congress and the left Parties, he had friends and admirers on both sides of the aisle.
He took over as the PM of India in 1998 in trying circumstances preceded by political instability, which was reflected in 4 Lok Sabha elections in 9 years, as we have seen.