Jaipur, Mar 30: Condolence messages went abuzz on social media and messaging applications on Thursday as rumours claimed that former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has died. The messages on social media, which reportedly emanated from Jaipur, were found to be hoax.

Vajpayee is confirmed to be alive and based at his residence in New Delhi, where he has been confined to over the past decade. The 93-year-old turned immobile after suffering a stroke in 2009.

Similar hoax messages had gone viral in December 2016, after a school in Madhya Pradesh's Khandwa held a condolence meet after being wrongly informed about Vajpayee's death.

Vajpayee, the patriarch of now Centre-ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), served as the prime minister on three occasions between 1996 to 2004.

His longest and only full-term tenure came between 1999-2004.

Vajpayee, a ten-time Lok Sabha MP, was first elected to the Parliament's Lower House in 1962. Arguably the oldest surviving lawmaker from the era, Vajpayee is known for his debate in the House with the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

In the Janata Party government of 1977-79, Vajpayee had served as the Foreign Minister.

In 1982, he, along with veteran colleague Lal Krishna Advani, founded the BJP, with the ideals of Jana Sangh. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is considered to be the parental body of the party.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 30, 2018 12:07 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).