Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee, remembering India’s 10th Prime Minister
New Delhi, Aug 16: Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the 10th Prime Minister of India. He has had three terms as Prime Minister, the first two that lasted 13 days and 13 months respectively. He became the first non-Congress PM to complete a full term when he was elected in 1998 and demoted office in 2004.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee was born on December 25, 1924 in Gwalior to Krishna Devi and Krishna Bihari Vajpayee. His father, Krishna Bihari Vajpayee, was a poet and a schoolmaster in his hometown.
He
did
his
schooling
from
the
Saraswati
Shishu
Mandir,
Gorkhi,
Bara,
Gwalior.
Vajpayee
attended
Gwalior's
Victoria
College
(now
Laxmi
Bai
College)
and
graduated
with
distinction
in
Hindi,
English
and
Sanskrit.
He
completed
his
post-graduation
with
an
M.A.
in
Political
Science
from
DAV
College,
Kanpur,
and
was
awarded
a
first-class
degree.
After
flirting
briefly
with
communism,
he
chose
to
support
the
RSS
and
Jan
Sangh.
Vajpayee
dropped
out
of
law
school
to
run
an
RSS
magazine
in
the
early
1950s.
He
took
part
in
the
Quit
India
Movement
of
1942-1945.
Vajpayee
became
a
close
follower
and
aide
to
Shyama
Prasad
Mookerjee,
founder
of
the
Bharatiya
Jana
Sangh
(BJS).
Vajpayee,
a
bachelor
also
earned
repute
as
a
famous
poet
Vajpayee
won
his
first
election
to
Parliament
in
1957.
He
has
been
a
parliamentarian
for
10
terms
which
began
in
1957
and
concluded
in
2009.
Vajpayee had earned fame as external affairs minister in Morarji Desai's government.He became the first person to deliver a speech in the UN in Hindi.
His
term
as
Prime
Minister
was
a
memorable
one.
India
witnessed
major
incidents
such
as
the
Pokhran
nuclear
tests
during
his
tenure.
During
his
stint,
India
also
witnessed
the
Khandahar
hijack,
Parliament
attack
and
the
Kargil
war.
Vajpayee
was
conferred
Padma
Vibhushan
in
1992
and
bestowed
with
the
Bharat
Ratna
in
2014.