Born on 25 December 1924, Atal Bihari Vajpayee was a renowned Indian politician and diplomat who served as Prime Minister thrice. He served as the President of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from 1968 to 1972. He was elected to the Lok Sabha ten times and to the Rajya Sabha twice in his 50-year career. Due to health concerns, he quit politics in 2009. Good Governance Day is celebrated on his birthday.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee: Biography
Apart from being a politician, he was also a poet and a founding member of his party. As the tenth Prime Minister of India, he served three terms, the first of which ended after just 13 days in 1996 due to lack of parliamentary support. He led the NDA coalition in 1998, but resigned after 13 months due to the withdrawal of support by the AIADMK. During his tenure, India conducted the Pokhran nuclear tests and he led his country to victory in the 1999 Kargil War. Along with starting the Delhi-Lahore bus service and signing the Lahore Declaration, he also initiated peace initiatives with Pakistan.
After winning the 1999 elections, Vajpayee took office again and remained in office for a full term until 2004. His reign saw important reforms such as the National Highway Development Project, the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojana and the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. By working with President Bill Clinton on the historic vision document, he improved relations with the United States. Vajpayee focused on coalition governance, even though the RSS was pressuring him to pursue a Hindutva agenda.
After a long political career in which he served in the Rajya Sabha twice and the Lok Sabha 10 times, Atal Bihari Vajpayee retired in December 2005. He did not marry and treated his niece Namita Bhattacharya like his daughter. After a stroke in 2009 that affected his speech and cognitive abilities, Vajpayee, a poet and a lover of Indian classical music, began to suffer from deteriorating health. He was admitted to AIIMS in New Delhi in June 2018, and on August 16, 2018, after more than two months of care, he died.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee: Achievements
- On 27 March 2015 he was awarded India’s highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna.
- In 1992, he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan.
- In 1994 he was honoured with the Outstanding Parliamentarian Award.
- He was also awarded the Lokmanya Tilak Award in 1994.
