Atal Bihari Vajpayee: Iconic figure in Indian Politics

DN Bureau

The condition of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee remains critical and he continues to be on advanced life-support system. Here are a glimps of his life....

Former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee speaking to media before a parliament session

Vajpayee was born on 25 December1924 to Krishna Devi and Krishna Bihari Vajpayee, in Gwalior.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee addressing UN General assembly as India's Foreign Minister

Vajpayee joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as a swayamsevak in 1939. Influenced by Babasaheb Apte, he attended the Officers Training Camp of the RSS during 1940-44 and became a "full-time worker" in 1947.

Vajpayee with Warren Christopher deputy secretary of states USA

Atal Bihari Vajpayee gave up studying law due to the partition riots and started working for the newspapers of Deendayal Upadhyaya, Rashtradharma (a Hindi monthly), Panchjanya (a Hindi weekly) and the dailies Swadesh and Veer Arjun.

Vice President K R Narayanan release the book on Atal Bihari Vajpayee

During the Internal Emergency imposed by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Vajpayee was arrested along with several other opposition leaders.

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee addressing the joint session of the US congress at Hill

A parliamentarian for over four decades, Vajpayee has been elected to the Lok Sabha (the lower house of Parliament of India) ten times, and twice to the Rajya Sabha (upper house). He also served as the Member of Parliament for Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, until 2009, when he retired from active politics due to health concerns.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani

In the 1996 general elections, Vajpayee was sworn in as the 10th Prime Minister of India, but the BJP failed to muster enough support from other parties to obtain a majority. He resigned after 13 days, when it became clear that he could not garner a majority.

Manmohan Singh and Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Manmohan Singh greets former Prime Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) veteran Atal Bihari Vajpayee on his 85th birthday, at latter's residence in New Delhi on Friday. Vajpayee has not been seen in public for over a year due to his illness.








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