On Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tributes to former Prime Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stalwart Atal Bihari Vajpayee on his death anniversary and said that the late leader played a significant role in facilitating the nation’s progress.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to X, formerly known as Twitter, and said that the country has benefitted greatly from Vajpayee’s leadership. He wrote, “I join the 140 crore people of India in paying homage to the remarkable Atal Ji on his Punya Tithi. India benefitted greatly from his leadership. He played a pivotal role in boosting our nation’s progress and in taking it to the 21st century in a wide range of sectors.”
Atal Bihari Vajpayee was born in Gwalior in 1924. He was the face of the BJP for decades and was the first non-Congress prime minister of India to have served a full tenure in office.
Vajpayee functioned as the Prime Minister of India from 16 May 1996, to 1 June 1996, and again from 19 March 1998 to 22 May 2004. He also served as India’s External Affairs Minister in the cabinet of Prime Minister Moraji Desai from 1977 to 1979. He took his last breath at AIIMS Hospital in Delhi on 16 August 2018.
After taking control of the office in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared that December 25, Vajpayee’s birthday, would be celebrated as Good Governance Day every year, to honour the former Prime Minister and Bharat Ratna recipient.
President Droupadi Murmu, along with many other ministers also paid floral tributes to Atal Bihari Vajpayee on his fifth death anniversary at the ‘Sadaiv Atal’ memorial in Delhi.