Biography of Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Indian politician Atal Bihari Vajpayee held the position of prime minister for three separate periods. He was born to Krishna Devi and Krishna Bihari Vajpayee on December 25, 1924, in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh. His father was a teacher, and he was the oldest of three brothers.

Vajpayee earned his bachelor's degree from Victoria College in Gwalior after excelling in school. Thereafter, he attended DAV College in Kanpur to complete a master's program in political science. He was a committed member of the Indian independence movement and was even detained in 1942 as part of the Quit India movement.

In 1951, Vajpayee joined the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS), the political branch of the right-wing Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Vajpayee advanced swiftly through the BJS ranks before being named the party's National Secretary in 1961. In 1957, he won a seat in the Lok Sabha for the first time in Balrampur, Uttar Pradesh.

Vajpayee was elected president of the BJS in 1968, and in 1977 he was a key figure in the founding of the Janata Party, an alliance of opposition groups that went on to defeat the Congress party in the general elections. The Janata Party government chose Vajpayee as its Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Vajpayee and his supporters established the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 1980 after the Janata Party administration fell in 1979. The party was dedicated to advancing the interests of India's predominately Hindu community and upheld the Hindu nationalist ideology.

On May 16, 1996, Vajpayee took his first oath of office as India's prime minister after winning the election to lead the BJP in the Lok Sabha. Unfortunately, because of a lack of backing from other political groups, his government was only in place for 13 days before falling.

Vajpayee was sworn in as the Prime Minister of India for a second time on March 19, 1998, after his BJP-led coalition government decisively won the general elections in 1998. During his second term as Prime Minister, Vajpayee initiated a variety of economic and social reforms, including the privatization of state-owned firms, the implementation of a new telecommunications strategy, and the commencement of the Golden Quadrilateral highway project.

Biography of Atal Bihari Vajpayee

In 1999, Vajpayee took a historic bus ride to Lahore to meet with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif as part of his program of rapprochement with that country. His administration, however, faced numerous difficulties, including a Pakistani nuclear test in May 1998 and India's subsequent nuclear tests.

As militants supported by Pakistan stormed into Indian territory and took over key positions in Kargil, a district in the northern state of Jammu & Kashmir, Vajpayee's administration was confronted with a serious dilemma. Almost 500 Indian soldiers lost their lives in the conflict that followed the start of a significant military operation by the Indian army to drive out the insurgents. However, the vital heights were eventually retaken by the Indian army, and a truce brought an end to the fighting.

The Vajpayee administration was re-elected in 1999, and on October 13, 1999, he was sworn in for a third term as prime minister of India. Vajpayee served as prime minister for a third time between

In 1957 Indian General Election, Vajpayee contested elections to the Lok Sabha. To be noted, the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was highly impressed by the oratory skills of Vajpayee. In 1968, Vajpayee became the national president of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh after the death of Deendayal Upadhyaya.

In the 1977 General Elections, a coalition of parties including the Bharatiya Jana Sangh formed the Janata Party which won the general elections. Vajpayee served as the External Affairs minister then. As foreign minister, Vajpayee also has been the first person from India who delivered a speech in 1977 to the United Nations General Assembly in Hindi. In 1980, the Bharatiya Jana Sangh came together to form the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with Vajpayee as its first president.

Terms as Prime Minister of India

First Term: May 1996

Second Term: 1998 to 1999

Third Term: 1999 to 2004

Awards & Honours

Atal Bihari Vajpayee was conferred with national honors:

Bharat Ratna (2015)
Padma Vibhushan (1992)

Death

In 2009, Vajpayee suffered a stroke which impaired his speaking abilities. In June 2018, Vajpayee was admitted to AIIMS after reporting a kidney infection. On 16th August 2018, Vajpayee passed away.