When Vajpayee Broke Silence: Inside The Day India Went Nuclear |
When Vajpayee Broke Silence: Inside The Day India Went Nuclear
Updated: May 11, 2026 20:31 pm IST Published On May 11, 2026 20:29 pm IST Last Updated On May 11, 2026 20:31 pm IST
Published On May 11, 2026 20:29 pm IST
Last Updated On May 11, 2026 20:31 pm IST
It was a hot afternoon on May 11, 1998. At that point in time, I was working as a correspondent covering the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and parliament with the news agency ANI.
I received a call from Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's office that he would address a news conference in the next two hours or so. I was asked to rush to the prime minister's house at "7 RCR", as it was then known, along with my camera team. I was taken aback; wondered why this sudden news conference by the prime minister.
I immediately rushed to my editor's cabin and informed him that Vajpayee was going to address a news conference at 5 pm or so, if I remember correctly.
The first question he asked was: "Is J Jayalalithaa withdrawing support to the Vajpayee government?"
This speculation had........