Flashback: Atal Bihari Vajpayee's foster son-in-law gets candid

Ranjan Bhattacharya, MD, Country Development & Management Service has consciously shunned the media during the last five years. This foster son-in-law of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has been wary of the fact that his uncanny vulnerability to all kinds of controversies due to his relationship with his father-inlaw had been a source of agony for him in the past. Ranjan, who has spent his entire career in the hospitality industry, says he's had his share of the inhospitable media attention that continues to haunt him. And the last five years have been a much needed relief. This dapper hotelier was a constant target of media attention during Vajpayee's tenure, briefly as caretaker PM in 1996 and later when the BJP government came to power in 1999 through to 2004. Little wonder then, he needed a great deal of cajoling to finally bring him to Oberoi's Belvedaire for a sundowner with the ET. "To tell you the truth, I am really enjoying my time away from the media glare and don't miss it one bit," he says placing his glass of Chinkara wine back on the table. We listened to him expectantly nursing our single malts. After all, we had this nattily dressed once most sought after member of the India's first family before us baring his heart and telling us unheard of anecdotes of his life. Many, yet to be captured by the Indian media. Ranjan has always had a weakness for red wine, Cuban cigars and long drives. During his early years, he drove his Maruti 800 non-stop to Manali in 12 hours flat. As a young adult, he had a fascination for his Yezdi motorcycle and his deck stereo his parents had gifted him. "Those were carefree days as I breezed through the Delhi roads in my Yezdi occasionally frequenting some happening joints in Delhi," he recalls with wooly eyes. Wheels in Ambassador, Cellar in Connaught Place and Sensation in Oberoi Maidens were his favourite night clubs. However, such youthful moments were short-lived . His life dramatically changed the day Vajpayee became the PM for 13 days in 1996. And the events that followed left him dumbstruck including his appointment as the officer-on-special-duty (OSD) in the Prime Minister's office. "It happened so suddenly that there was no time for me to think and react," he says. However, Ranjan tried to enjoy every moment of it although, as he says, he was under constant pressure. While he was anointed as the OSD in the PMO, he recalls, the role wasn't formalised till the twelfth day. It was done only when the sudden arrival of an important file marked to 'Ranjan Bhattacharya' , made it essential to formalise his position. "It was nightmarish for a person like me who'd had no grooming in administrative matters. The whole idea of disturbing my bright career for 13 days glory apart from uncertain future after that constantly bothered me." However, Ranjan's ordeal ended the following day when Vajpayee resigned as the PM. Nevertheless, Ranjan still remembers a landmark decision taken during his tenure in the PMO the tremors of which still hold centre stage. What was that? He's reluctant to get into the details and we decided to leave him at that. While a great deal has been written on Ranjan, his allegedly flashy manners in the corridors of power and the controversies he courted, what has missed the popular imagination is the man's profound relationship with his father-in-law . For the person, who belonged to a lifestyle of glamour in the

hospitality industry with a penchant for the good things in life, Vajpayee's socialist ideology and literary interests seemed a bit out of place in his life. Ranjan says his respect for the political stalwart he endearingly calls him Baapji helped him accept him as he was.