Atal Bihari Vajpayee: News

Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the senior-most leader and founder of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a three-time former Prime Minister of India, and a Hindi poet par excellence. An RSS Pracharak since youth, Vajpayee joined its political arm, the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS), in 1951, entering the Lok Sabha in 1957 from the Balrampur constituency. Vajpayee emerged as an eloquent orator who could convey his thoughts with great force and grace at the same time. He was the President of BJS from 1968 to 1972. Along with other opposition leaders, he too was imprisoned by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi during the Emergency (1975-77). Vajpayee became the Foreign Minister of India during the Janata Party government from 1977 to 1979. In 1980, Vajpayee, along with other former BJS colleagues, formed the BJP with him as its first President from 1980 to 1986. Vajpayee became the Prime Minister of India three times: in 1996, 1998-99, and 1999-2004. Highlights of his Prime Ministership include the 1998 Nuclear tests, the 1999 Kargil War victory, the Golden Quadrilateral, and rapid economic growth. He was bestowed with the Bharat Ratna in 2015. Vajpayee passed away in 2018 in Delhi.