Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Atal Bihari Vajpayee was an Indian politician, statesman and poet who played a prominent role in Indian politics for several decades. He was a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Biography of Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Birth and Education

• Atal Bihari Vajpayee was born on 25 December 1924.
• He was born in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh.
• His father was Krishna Bihari Vajpayee.
• Krishna Bihari Vajpayee was a school teacher.
• His mother’s name was Krishna Devi.
• Atal Bihari Vajpayee did his schooling at Saraswati Shishu Mandir, Gwalior.
• Thereafter, he studied at Anglo-Vernacular Middle (AVM) School in Barnagar, Ujjain district.
• After schooling he attended Victoria College, Agra University (now Maharani Lakshmi Bai Government College of Excellence), Gwalior, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Hindi, English and Sanskrit.
• After that, Atal Bihari Vajpayee completed his post-graduation with Master of Arts in Political Science from DAV College, Kanpur, Agra University.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee : A Brief Biography

Political life

In the year 1942, at the age of 16, Atal Bihari Vajpayee became an active member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). In August, 1942, Vajpayee and his elder brother Prem were arrested for 24 days during the Quit India Movement.

In the year 1951, Atal Bihari Vajpayee was sent to ‘Bharatiya Jan Sangh’ on behalf of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. He was appointed as the national secretary of the party in charge of the Delhi-based northern region.

In the 1957 Indian general election, Vajpayee contested for the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian Parliament. Although he lost to Raja Mahendra Pratap in Mathura, he won the Lok Sabha elections from Balrampur.

After the death of Deen Dayal Upadhyay, the leadership of Jan Sangh came into the hands of Vajpayee. He became the national president of Jan Sangh in 1968.

As Prime Minister

The history of Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the Prime Minister of India is also quite remarkable. He remained the Prime Minister of the country for three terms.

In the year 1996, he took oath as the 10th Prime Minister of India. However, when the Bharatiya Janata Party failed to form a majority in the Lok Sabha, Vajpayee resigned only after a period of 13 days as it became clear that he did not have the necessary support to form the government.

His second term as Prime Minister began after the 1998 general elections which resulted in the formation of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). This government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee lasted for a total of 13 months. The third and final term of Atal Bihari Vajpayee lasted for a full period of 5 years from 1999 to 2004.

End times and legacy

In 2009, Vajpayee suffered a stroke due to which his health deteriorated. Media reports said that he was dependent on a wheelchair and could not recognize people. He also had dementia and long-term diabetes.

On June 11, 2018, Vajpayee was admitted to AIIMS in critical condition following a kidney infection. He was officially declared dead at 5:05 pm on August 16, 2018, at the age of 93.

On the morning of 17 August, Vajpayee’s body, draped with the Indian flag, was taken to the Bharatiya Janata Party headquarters, where party workers paid homage to him till 1 pm.

Later that afternoon, at 4 pm, Vajpayee was cremated with full state honors at the National Memorial near Rajghat, and his funeral pyre was lit by his adopted daughter Namita Kaul Bhattacharya. On 19 August, his ashes were immersed in the Ganga river in Haridwar by Kaul.

In the year 1992, he was given ‘Padma Vibhushan’.

In the year 2015, Atal Bihari Vajpayee was decorated with the ‘Bharat Ratna’ award.

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