“I will suggest you do not write about my replies to your queries. I do not think such stories will help you in future. You have a long way to go in this profession; so you better avoid such things,” the daily reported Rudy as telling.

At a quiz organised by the BJP in Patna on the occasion of the former Prime Minister’s 87th birthday on Sunday, it was not just school children who failed but also some senior party leaders. They were caught clue less.

Students from the Rajkiya Kanya Madhya Vidyalay, Rajkiya Saraswati Vidyalay and New Harijan Academy described the questions as “tough”.
“The questions are so tough...I don’t know anything about this person (Vajpayee). We have never been taught anything about him in class,” said Rahul Kumar, Class IV student of Rajkiya Saraswati Vidyalay.

The organizers had set 12 questions all related to Vajpayee’s political life. Then the Telegraph fielded six of the 12 questions asked to some senior BJP leaders they too failed to come up with the correct answers.

In which year Vajpayee was born. Rudy said 1928, party MP Sanjay Jaiswal said 1923, MLA Nitin Navin and state spokesman Prem Ranjan Patel, said pass. The correct answer is 1924.

What is Vajpayee’s father name. None of them could reply, Krishna Bihari Vajpayee.

Rudy even failed to recall how many times Vajpayee served as the PM. Incidentally, he himself served as a minister in his cabinet.

An embarrassed Rudy told the daily to “Google it” when asked from where Vajpayee had won his first election.

“Give me 10 minutes to reply to these queries. But why don’t you see the answers on the Net? If you want to get a reply from me, furnish me the questions and give me 10 minutes,” he is reported to have told the newspaper.

And when the programme got over, Rudy gave the warning state above to the reporter.

It was not just Rudy but three other leaders of the party who failed to answer questions about the lone BJP Prime Minister of the country.

The Telegraph reported none of the four had an answer to as to when Vajpayee was born, what his father’s name was, which seat he was first elected from or what his first portfolio was as a Union minister.

Only two knew he was born in Madhya Pradesh and had been the Prime Minister thrice.

To a question, Nitin Navin, the BJP MLA from Bankipore in Patna said,: “I cannot remember the year of his birth. I seriously don’t know the answer; I have to check it somewhere...I can give you the answer if you give me some time.”

Sanjay Jaiswal, BJP MP from Paschim Champaran, told the newspaper: “It seems that you are checking the IQ of the BJP leaders. I can smell something wrong in it.”

“Why are you asking me these questions? I don’t think anybody would be able to give the answers.”

Needless to remind the BJP observed his birthday as a “Good Governance Day” and demanded the Bharat Ratna for him.

Incidentally, Navin, had gone to Delhi along with deputy chief minister Sushil Modi to greet Vajpayee on his birthday. But he failed to answer four of the questions and tried to change the subject.

“Today, I met Atalji on his birthday and I feel I have been blessed. Vajpayee is such a great leader,” was his reply.

If he sounded a little sheepish, Sanjay Jaiswal, MP from Paschim Champaran, appeared aggrieved at being expected to know the answers. Jaiswal (one right, one wrong and four “don’t knows”) said: “It seems that you are checking the IQ of the BJP leaders. I can smell something wrong in it.”

“Why are you asking me these questions?” he demanded. “I don’t think anybody would be able to give the answers at such short notice.”

MLA and state-level spokesperson Prem Ranjan Patel got Vajpayee’s birthplace right.

State BJP president C P Thakur, the chief guest at the quiz, had felt the questions were “really tough” for the schoolchildren, who could not be “expected to answer them”.

Told about his party leaders’ performance, he was taken aback.

“Vajpayee is our party’s veteran and it is disappointing that many leaders were not aware of the basic facts about his life and achievements,” he said. “If BJP leaders cannot answer these questions, how would the children know?” was how he summed up.

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