Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who served as the PM in 1996
and then from 1998 to 2004, passed away in New Delhi on Thursday Aug 16,2018
Vajpayee, who was suffering from a prolonged illness for over a decade,
was 93.
The BJP stalwart was admitted to the All India Institute of
Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in the capital on June 11 with a kidney tract
infection, urinary tract infection, low urine output and chest
congestion.
Last night, Vajpayee's condition had worsened and he was put
on life-support system.
The son of a school teacher, Vajpayee was born in 1924 in Gwalior in
the central state of Madhya Pradesh. A lifelong bachelor and amateur
poet, he was a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the BJP’s
parent organization. Vajpayee’s first taste of politics came in 1942
when he was arrested briefly for joining the Quit India Movement that
hastened the end of British colonial rule five years later.
Vajpayee worked as a journalist before joining the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the
fore-runner of the BJP, in 1951 and was elected to the lower house of
parliament six years later. He was detained for a second time with other
opposition leaders in 1975 when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi imposed a
state of emergency and suspended elections and civil liberties. Once
restrictions were lifted two years later, her Indian National Congress
party suffered a heavy defeat at the polls.
Vajpayee became foreign minister from 1977 to 1979 in the country’s first non-Congress government.
As
BJP president from 1980 to 1986, he worked with long-time colleague Lal
Krishna Advani to build the party. The BJP later supported a campaign
to build a Hindu temple on the site of an ancient mosque in the northern
town of Ayodhya, eliciting votes of many Hindus, India’s majority
religious group
He was the first Prime Minister to complete a full term who wasn't from
the Congress party.
It was during his tenure that the Pokhran nuclear
tests were carried out.
He has received Bharat Ratna, Padma Vibhushan,
Lokmanya Tilak Award and other awards
Lifeline and Career.
1924: Atal Bihari Vajpayee is born in Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior
1942:
Arrested and held for 24 days. He later wrote in a piece titled ‘The
Sangh is my Soul’: “I participated in the Quit India movement in 1942
and was jailed…”
1951: After working as a journalist, he joins the newly formed Bharatiya Jan Sangh
1957: Elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time
1962: Becomes a member of the Rajya Sabha
1975: Jailed during the Emergency
1977-79: Serves as the external affairs minister in the Janata Party government
1980: Cuts ties with the Janata Party and helps found the Bharatiya Janata Party. He is chosen as the president of the party
1992: Awarded the Padma Vibhushan for contribution in the field of public affairs
1996:
Becomes the Prime Minister but is forced to resign in 13 days after the
BJP unsuccessfully attempts to stitch together an alliance with
regional parties. On May 28, he – in what has become a landmark speech —
resigned on the floor of the House before a trust vote
1998: Sworn in as PM after the BJP emerges as the single largest party and forms the National Democratic Alliance government
1998:
Under Vajpayee’s leadership, India conducts five nuclear tests on May
11 and 13 at the Pokhran range in Rajasthan. Seventeen days later,
Pakistan conducts its own nuclear tests
1999: The government lasts a little over a year. Vajpayee resigns in April after his party loses the vote of confidence
1999: Becomes the PM for a third time in October after the NDA emerges as the largest political alliance
2000:
Signs a statement on ‘US-India Relations: A Vision for the 21st
Century’ along with Bill Clinton during the US President’s visit to
India in March. The statement talks of a “pledge to reduce impediments
to bilateral trade and investment, and to expand commerce between the
two nations”
2000: In September, after an invitation to
address a joint session of the US Congress, he speaks at a joint
session. Vajpayee says his visit to Washington has “consolidated
relations between the world’s two largest democracies and marked a new
era in bilateral and global affairs”
2004: In May, he resigns as the PM following the NDA’s defeat in the Lok Sabha elections
2005: Retires from active politics
2009: Has a stroke that impairs his speech
2015:
Conferred the Bharat Ratna, the country’s highest civilian award. In a
departure from protocol, President Pranab Mukherjee drives to Vajpayee’s
residence and presents the award to the ailing leader. Prime Minister
Narendra Modi says: “There are crores of workers around the country who
draw inspiration from Atalji”
August 16, 2018: Vajpayee passes away in Delhi
Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the man who turned India into nuclear-armed nation
Vajpayee led India’s right-wing coalition governments from 1998 to
2004, overseeing sweeping policy changes in telecommunications,
education and privatization of state-run firms. He will be remembered
for his repeated efforts at talks with neighbor Pakistan, improved
relations with the U.S. and India’s second nuclear weapons test in 1998,
more than two decades after the first detonation in 1974.
Two
months after his Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition came to power,
Vajpayee ordered detonation of three underground nuclear devices on May
11, 1998 at Pokhran in the northwestern state of Rajasthan. In defiance
of a global outcry, two more tests were conducted at the same site two
days later.
The
U.S. imposed economic sanctions, while some European nations and Japan
halted aid. Pakistan responded with its own atomic blasts two weeks
later, ignoring appeals from world leaders to show restraint.
