Never imagined I would address a gathering where Vajpayee would not be present: Advani

Senior BJP leader LK Advani addresses an all party condolence meeting organised for former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, in New Delhi on Monday. PTI Photo

NEW DELHI: Paying glowing tributes to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Former Deputy Prime Minister and BJP veteran LK Advani on Monday said he never thought he would address a gathering where Vajpayee wouldn't be present. "I had never imagined that some day I would have to address a gathering like this, a gathering where Atalji is not amongst us," an emotional Advani said. Remembering his long association with Vajpayee, Advani said that during the over 65 years of friendship, Vajpayee and he would often stay together, watch movies together and would read books together. Advani, who along with Vajpayee expanded the party's base in 1990s, was speaking at a prayer meeting in memory of the former prime minister, who died last week. He also recalled how bad he felt when Vajpayee did not turn up at the launch of his autobiography in 2008. Vajpayee died on August 16 at the age of 93 following a prolonged illness. Condoling his demise, Advani had then said: "To me, Atalji was more than a senior colleague- in fact, he was my closest friend for over 65 years." "I cherish the memories of my long association with him, right from our days as Pracharaks of the RSS, to the inception of Bharatiya Jana Singh, the struggle of the dark months during the Emergency leading to the formation of Janata Party and later the emergence of the Bharatiya Janata Party in 1980. Atalji will be remembered as the pioneer of the first ever stable non-Congress coalition government at the Centre and I had the privilege of working as his deputy for six years. As my senior, he always encouraged and guided me in every possible manner," the BJP leader had said. (With inputs from IANS)