Former Prime Minster Atal Bihari Vajpayee breathed his last at 5:05 pm on Thursday, 16 August at All India Institute for Medical Sciences (AIIMS) after being in the hospital for nearly eight weeks. Vajpayee was India’s 10th prime minister, and India’s first non-Congress prime minister to complete a five-year-term.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee was born in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, on Christmas day in 1924. His father, Krishna Bihari Vajpayee, was a school teacher and a poet.
He was introduced to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) through the Arya Kumar Sabha, the youth wing of the Arya Samaj.
Here’s a look at Vajpayee’s life through photos.
Over the course of his political career, Atal Bihari Vajpayee was elected to the Lok Sabha nine times, and twice to the Rajya Sabha.
In 1977, Vajpayee went on to become a founding member of the Janata Party, and served as External Affairs Minister in the Morarji Desai government.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee slowly withdrew from the public eye, citing dementia and diabetes as the reasons for his retirement.
Towards the end of his life, his closest aides said that he mostly spent his time at home, and even failed to recognise people he knew. He is survived by his adopted daughter Namita, and granddaughter Neharika.
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