Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee died at All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on Thursday, August 16.. The 93-year-old was admitted on June 11 after complaints of urinary tract infection, low urine output and chest congestion. After his condition deteriorated on Wednesday, the BJP leader was put on life support system. The late-former had interests outside of politics too. The veteran who served as the Prime Minister of Indian in three non-consecutive terms was also a poet.

He poetry skills are quite popular and have written and published several published many Hindi poems. Vajpayee was the first person to deliver a speech in Hindi at the UN General assembly. His speeches and oratory skills are also quite known. His poems were much loved and even leaders of Opposition listened to him when he recited his poems on a public podium.

Some of his published works include 'Meri Sansadiya Yatra', 'Meri Ikkyavan Kavitayen', 'Sankalp Kaal', 'Shakti-se-Shanti', 'Four Decades in Parliament', 'Lok Sabha Mein Atalji', Mrityu Ya Hatya', 'Amar Balidan', 'Kaidi Kaviraj Ki Kundalian'.

Here is a compilation of his 10 popular poems:

In recognition of his services to the nation, he was awarded Padma Vibhushan in 1992. He was also honoured with the Lokmanya Tilak Puraskar and the Bharat Ratna Pt. Govind Ballabh Pant Award for the Best Parliamentarian in 1994.  He was jailed in 1942 for participating in the freedom struggle. He was detained during Emergency in 1975-77.

Following his demise, Vajpayee was paid tributes by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP president Amit Shah, senior BJP leader LK Advani, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, among others.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 16, 2018 07:02 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).