Contrary to the popular belief, Vajpayee has always been on the side that he genuinely thinks is representative of Indian ethos. At the same time, he has been acutely conscious of the extreme tendencies within his party that he thinks often cross the line.

Ironically, the lowest point in his long and illustrious public life was also perhaps his highest at the personal level. Within three days of the demolition of the Babri Mosque in December 6, 1992, he was both self-assured enough and profoundly disturbed to declare the demolition as the BJP’s “worst miscalculation”.

A deeply anguished and aggrieved Vajpayee chose only two journalists including this writer and his colleague Tarun Basu to publicly bemoan that moderates like him in the party had been cast aside in the run up to the demolition. During a two-hour conversation at his then Raisina Road residence, Vajpayee spoke with characteristic candour on record and even more strikingly off it. However, even in those terrible times for his party and him personally, he managed to stick to his position that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the BJP’s ideological parent, considered the action to be against “Hindu ethos”.