Atal Bihari Vajpayee Death: Read Final Bulletin Released by AIIMS
Here is the final bulletin on Vajpayee's health issued by AIIMS at 5:30 pm today, confirming the demise of the former PM.
New Delhi, Aug 16: Former prime minister and Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee died today at the AIIMS, where he was admitted since June 11. Vajpayee had been ailing for years and had been away from the political limelight.
Here is the final bulletin on Vajpayee's health issued by AIIMS at 5:30 pm today, confirming the demise of the former PM. Notably, his condition was being reported as critical since Wednesday night.
Vajpayee, who gave a new face to the Jan Sangh, making it the Bharatiya Janata Party in 1980, was honoured with the Bharat Ratna in 2014 by the Narendra Modi government. He was known for his style of governance during for tenure as Prime Minister from 1998 to 2004. Since 2014, Vajpayee's birth anniversary, December 25, has been celebrated as 'Good Governance Day'.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee was born on December 25, 1924 in Gwalior. Vajpayee joined the RSS in 1939 and became a full time RSS worker by 1947. He had to leave his law studies midway due to partition. His popularity as a political leader grew first when he was arrested during the Quit India movement, but his name in national politics peaked when he was arrested during Emergency imposed by the Indira Gandhi government between 1975 and 1977. Over the years, Vajpayee worked on creating the Bharatiya Janata Party from the Jan Sangh.
In the 1996 elections, the BJP emerged as the single largest party under Vajpayee's leadership and he went on to become the Prime Minister. However, his party could not prove majority and he had to step down in 13 days. Vajpayee again led the BJP to victory in the 1998 elections and became the Prime Minister, heading the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). His government faced another test in 1999 when the Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK quit the NDA.
However, in June 1999, under his leadership as Prime Minister, Operation Vijay was launched by the Indian Army when Pakistan forces tried to invade Kargil. In the 1999 elections, the NDA won 303 seats and Vajpayee became the Prime Minister yet again, this time to be the first non-Congress prime minister to have served five years in office.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 16, 2018 06:10 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).