Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Atal Bihari Vajpayee (25 December 1924 - 16 August 2018) was a respected hotshot political figure from the Bharatiya Janata Party who served as a 10th Prime Minister of India. Due to his great work and efficiency in handling the nation's affairs brilliantly, he was elected as Indian prime Minister for three consecutive terms- the first term for 13 days (16 May 1996 - 1 June 1996); the second term for a period of 13 months (19 March 1998 - 26 April 1999); and the third term for five years (13 October 1999 - 22 May 2004). The first PM of India to complete an entire five-year term in prime ministerial office, he maintained his loyalties to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) until his last breath by never being a member of the Indian National Congress party during his political service.

An Indian Parliamentarian for almost forty years, Vajpayee was the only Member of Parliament, who was elected from four different states of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh at different points in time. During his tenure as a MP of Parliament, he was voted in ten times to the Lok Sabha and two times to the Rajya Sabha.

He entered politics during the pre-independence period when Indian freedom fighters were striking a war against the Britishers with Quit India Movement. Vajpayee supported this movement which ultimately led to his arrest and imprisonment. Later, he became the co-founder of the former nationalsit party called Bharatiya Jana Sangh. A versatile personality, he was a man with wonderful oratory skills which popularized him as a skilled poet having several published poems. As Vajpayee was a dire admirer of the Hindi language, he became the first person to deliver a Hindi speech at the U.N. General assembly. Not just a Prime Minister, he held several other august positions in the Indian politics even before his election as prime Minister of India.

After suffering from major health issues and prolonged illnesses, Vajpayee succumbed to death on 16 August 2018 in Delhi after getting admitted to AIIMS hospital for several days for treatment. Not just a famous poet, but, Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the man of substance and an avid patriot who strived to fight for the well-being of his country till the last breath.

Early Life of Atal Bihari Vajpayee

• - Atal Bihari Vajpayee was born on 25 December, 1924 in Gwalior to Krishna Devi (mother) and Krishna Bihari Vajpayee (father) in a middle class Brahmin household.
• - He completed his schooling from Saraswati Shishu Mandir. Later, he pursued his graduation from Victoria College (now Laxmi Bai College) in Gwalior with distinction in English, Hindi, and Sanskrit.
• - Vajpayee went to Dayanand Anglo-Vedic College, Kanpur to complete his post graduation in Political Science.
• - In 1939, he joined Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as a worker and later became a full-time worker in 1947.
• - Being a true patriot at heart, he participated in the Indian freedom struggle as a student and demonstrated his writing skills in the national magazines and newspapers.
• - He also worked for several nationalist Hindi newspapers like Panchjanya Hindi weekly, Rashtradharma Hindi monthly, and the dailies Swadesh and Veer Arjun.
• - Staying a bachelor for the entire life was his personal choice. He legally adopted the daughter of his friend Rajkumari Kaul and BN Kaul and brought her up as his own child.

Political career

• - Vajpayee joined Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS) of Syama Prasad Mookerjee as a co-founder in 1951.
• - He was elected to the lower house of parliament for the first time in 1957 from Balrampur in U.P and surprised everyone with his impeccable oratory skills.
• - He became the president of Jana Sangh in 1968 consequent to the death of Deendayal Upadhyaya. For the next few years, he worked diligently with other political leaders like Deendayal Upadhyaya and Nanaji Deshmukh to make Jana Sangh a popular party in Indian politics.
• - The Bharatiya Jana Sangh, Bharatiya Lok Dal and the Socialist Party integrated to form the popular Janata Party in 1977 which won the general elections. This led to Vajpayee becoming the Minister of External Affairs in the government of Prime Minister Morarji Desai.
• - Vajpayee formed the Bharatiya Janata Party in 1980 along with Lal Krishna Advani and Bhairon Singh Shekhawat after the dissolution of the Janata Party in 1979, and became the first president of this party.
• - In 1984 after the general elections, when BJP has just two seats, Vajpayee through his hard efforts build this party all over again and make the party won 1989 parliamentary elections with 88 seats.
• - In 1993, he became the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament and was declared BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate at Mumbai BJP conference in November 1995.
• - Popular for his liberal opinions, Vajpayee lamented over the destruction of the Babri Masjid on 6 December 1992 and declared this act as BJP's "worst miscalculation".

Life as a Prime Minister

• - After BJP emerged as a monumental political party in 1996 Lok Sabha general elections, Atal Bihari Vajpayee took an oath as Prime Minister of India. Nevertheless, he resigned from this post after 13 days due to the party's failure in obtaining a majority.
• - He again took vows as a Prime Minister of India in 1998 after the formation of National Democratic Alliance (NDA) with other political parties by BJP. The government ruled over the country for 13 months.
• - The 5 underground nuclear tests in Pokhran were conducted in Rajasthan in May 1998 during the second tenure of Vajpayee as a PM of India. This initiative of him is still considered as a national milestone.
• - Atal Bihari Vajpayee initiated a strategic peace action with Pakistan aiming to resolve the dispute over Kashmir and other clashes during his second tenure as Prime Minister. He even started off the momentous Delhi-Lahore bus service in February 1999.
• - The famous Kargil War took place from May to July 1999 when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was serving as country's Prime Minister. Under his official orders, a counter attack in the form of Operation Vijay was launched by the Indian Army and Indian Air Force against the infiltrating Pakistani militants and other intruders leading to the recapturing of 70 percent of Kashmir. This victory was a clear demonstration of leadership quality in Vajpayee that established him as a strong and reputed politician of India.
• - The victory of the Kargil war under the leadership of Vajpayee led to the triumph of BJP-led NDA government in 1999 general election. He was elected as the Indian prime Minister for the third time.
• - When Indian Airlines flight IC 814 was hijacked in December 1999 and was flown to Afghanistan along with the passengers by the terrorists, Vajpayee issued the order of getting them safely back to India. The then Minister of External Affairs, Jaswant Singh, was sent along with the released terrorists to get all the passengers safe to their loved ones in India.
• - The Vajpayee led government implemented numerous economic and infrastructural reforms in India including promoting investments from foreign and private sectors; and encouraged research and development.
• - In order to improve the relations between India and Pakistan, Vajpayee even invited Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf but nothing was achieved from it.
• - In March 2000, US President Bill Clinton visited India for the first time for a summit that was aimed to improve economic and foreign trade relations between both the countries.
• - Under his leadership as a Prime Minister, the Prevention of Terrorism Act was passed.
• - The Vajpayee government introduced numerous economic reforms during 2002-03 that resulted in an increase of 6-7% in the GDP.
• - He resigned from the designation of Prime Minister in 2004 after Congress won the elections.
• - Vajpayee retired from politics in 2005 and refused to contest 2009 parliamentary elections.

Awards & Recognitions

• - Padma Vibhushan in 1992
• - Bharat Ratna Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant Award in 1994
• - Best Parliamentarian Award in 1994
• - Lokmanya Tilak Award in 1994
• - Bharat Ratna in 2015
• - Bangladesh's Liberation War Honour on 7 June 2015 by the Government of Bangladesh
• - The Modi Government announced Vajapyee's birthday, 25th December as Good Governance Day

Mementos

• - Former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh of Congress party referred him as Bhishma Pitamah of Indian Politics.
• - Mukesh, Lata Mangeshkar, and Mohd. Rafi were his favorite singers.

Books by Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Autobiographies by Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Poetry by Atal Bihari Vajpayee

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