Patna: Deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi on Friday recalled how former Prime Minister late Atal Bihari Vajpayee had asked him to join mainstream politics while he had come to attend his (Modi's) marriage in Patna on April 13, 1986.
The BJP leader shared the brief speech which Vajpayee had delivered when he had been invited to bless the couple - Sushil Kumar Modi and Jessie George.
"People who have never tied the nuptial knot are being invited to bless the couple but instead of the ritual of blessing the couple I would express my happiness," Vajpayee had said when he was invited to bless Modi and his better half.
Continuing his speech he said: "This has become a unique episode. The meeting of north and south is taking place. In this inter-state, inter-language, inter-faith marriage, the bride is from Kerala. It is near Kerala that virgin girls have been worshipping for centuries. Pataliputra is associated with Himalaya and Kanyakumari has been watching the tip of Himalaya. This love took place first, then followed the marriage," Vajpayee had said.
Jessie George happens to be a native of Kerala and she is a Catholic.
He then went on to say that the priest was right when he had said that if love happens after marriage it was good but if love results in marriage it was better. I want to congratulate, particularly those families where boys and girls come together and get married.
The late PM had said that it was important that Sushil Modi had decided to get married. "Till now he had been struggling but this marriage has been accepted by the families and they are happy and here to take part in it. This is a big thing in itself," he had added.
Sources in Modi's family said that earlier the BJP leader (Sushil) had decided to remain a bachelor and Vajpayee had come up with this comment in that context.
During his speech, Vajpayee had also said that society was in the grip of many social evils and walls are erected between lovers. "People who get married demolishing those walls are not accepted by family, the society does not bless them but this marriage has got the blessings of society. From this angle, this marriage could become a lodestar, this is what I wish," he had said.
Concluding his speech, Vajpayee said he had one more interest in attending the marriage. "Sushilji is no more a student. His wife is a teacher. He has always been active and served the Vidyarthi Parishad very well. I invite him to come in the field of politics and extend a helping hand to us."
While Modi's wife, after marriage, started working as a college teacher in Patna, it took a few more years for Modi to join mainstream politics. He started running a computer training institute in 1987 and after three years, he ended his tryst with the business and joined politics.
