Atal Bihari Vajpayee second death anniversary: Kovind, Modi pay tribute to ex-PM

New Delhi, Aug 16: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday led tributes to Atal Bihari Vajpayee on his second death anniversary as he remembered the former prime minister's "outstanding service" to the nation.

Taking to microblogging site Twitter, the PM wrote, ''Tributes to beloved Atal Ji on his Punya Tithi. India will always remember his outstanding service and efforts towards our nation's progress.'' The montage features photos and videos of Vajpayee taken during his long career in politics.

Vice President Venkaiah Naidu, Union home minister Amit Shah and defence minister Rajnath Singh also paid tributes to Vajpayee.

''I pay homage to the great speaker of our generation, 'Ajatashatru', bearer of liberal democratic values, nationalist poet, skilled administrator, and former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee on his death anniversary,'' Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu tweeted.

On Sunday morning, President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the 'Sadaiv Atal' - the memorial of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and paid floral tribute to the former PM.

The PM and President were also joined by Atal Bihari Vajpayee's daughter Namita Kaul Bhattacharya and granddaughter Niharika at 'Sadaiv Atal'.

Vajpayee served as India's prime minister thrice - briefly in 1996, from 1998 to 1999 and then for a full five-year term between 1999 and 2004. He was the first leader from the Bharatiya Janata Party to become the prime minister.