Atal Bihari Vajpayee Life-Size Portrait Unveiled by President Ram Nath Kovind in Central Hall of Parliament; See Picture
Vice President Venkaiah Naidu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi were also present during the unveiling of the grand portrait.
New Delhi, February 12: A life-size portrait of Late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was unveiled by President Ram Nath Kovind at the Central Hall of Parliament on Tuesday. Vice President Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several other leaders were also present during the unveiling of the grand portrait. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "Atal Ji had a long political career, a large part of that career was spent in opposition. Yet, he continued raising issues of public interest and never ever deviated from his ideology".
Meanwhile, Congress Leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said, "Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji will be remembered because there was criticism in his words for the opposition but in his heart, there was no anger against opposition".
Take a look at the potrait:
According to reports, the decision to install Vajpayee's portrait was taken in December during the meeting of Parliament's Portrait Committee chaired by the Lok Sabha Speaker.
Vajpayee breathed his last on 16th August, 2018 at the age of 93 years after a prolonged illness. Vajpayee was sworn-in as the 10th Prime Minister of India in 1996, when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged as the single largest party in 1996 general elections. He was the first non-Congress Prime Minister to have completed the full five-year term as India's Prime Minister. However, he failed to prove a majority in the Parliament and had to resign after 13 days. In 1998, Vajpayee became the prime minister again for 13 months from 1998 to 1999, and then from 1999 to 2004.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 12, 2019 11:01 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).