Ranchi: For CRPF IG Sanjay Anand Lathkar, one of the many things he remembers learning after spending some time with Atal Bihari Vajpayee was something that the former prime minister would often say: being loved as leader is more important than being feared as a tall personality.

Reminiscing his moments with Vajpayee in April 2004, the 1995 batch IPS officer said that he was posted in Dhanbad as SP at the time when the then prime minister had come to campaign for party candidates Reeta Verma (Dhanbad) and Ravindra Pandey (Giridih).

Vajpayee shook hands with Lathkar warmly soon after landing at the airstrip at Barwadda locality and proceeded to Golf Ground, the venue of a scheduled public meeting.

"I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would be shaking hands with the Prime Minister. His simple heartedness, kind affection and easy approach towards all perplexed me. An SP rank officer is a non-entity before the country's prime minister. But Vajpayee ji was above such petty considerations," Lathkar told The Telegraph on Friday.

Lathkar escorted Vajpayee to the dais, monitored security arrangements and also took care of other needs of the hour. After the meeting was over, he escorted Vajpayee to the circuit house for lunch.

"Vajpayee ji summoned me at the dining table. I confess I was a bit nervous to sit close to him. But he made me comfortable by asking me about myself, like, where I was from, when I joined police, places where I served, what I learnt while working in Bihar and Jharkhand and of course my family. There was no protocol. I felt I was talking to a family elder," Lathkar said.

Before leaving, Vajpayee shook hands with him again and wished him the best. "I have preserved the photographs of those memorable moments. Unfortunately I can't show them to you now as they are at my native place in Nanded in Maharashtra," he added.

In the days of unified Bihar, Lathkar was the SP of Arwal, Aurangabad and Gumla. After Jharkhand was formed in 2000, he went on to become the SP of Giridih, Rail Police (Dhanbad), Dhanbad and Jamshedpur (East Singhbhum).

Vajpayee visited Dhanbad on April 12, 2004.