Former Indian Prime minister Mr.Atal Bihari Vajpayee passes away at 93

ET Online|

Updated: Aug 16, 2018, 05.46 PM IST

Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee died today in All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi after a long illness. The 93-year-old BJP leader was suffering from multiple ailments and was admitted to AIIMS in June. He was put on life support system by the doctors after his condition became critical in the last 24 hours. 

He was a diabetic and had only one functional kidney. He suffered a stroke in 2009 that weakened his cognitive abilities. Subsequently, he developed dementia. 

Vajpayee was admitted to the AIIMS on June 11 with kidney tract infection, chest congestion, urinary tract infection and low urine output. 

Three-time Prime Minister, Vajpayee was the first and the only non-Congress Prime Minister to serve a full five-year term from 1999 to 2004; and for short periods of 13 days in 1996 and 13 months in 1998. Vajpayee was elected to Lok Sabha from Lucknow in 1991, 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2004. 

Born in the family of a humble school teacher on December 25, 1924, in Gwalior Madhya Pradesh, Vajpayee entered politics during the Quit India movement in 1942. He did his graduation and post graduation in Political Science from Victoria College in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh and at the DAV College in Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh, where he first contested - and lost - an election. He was first elected to Parliament in 1962 as a member of Rajya Sabha. In 1971, he won his first Lok Sabha seat. He was elected to the Lok Sabha seven times and twice to the Rajya Sabha. 

He was the first external affairs minister to deliver a speech in the UN Assembly in Hindi. 

Apart from politician with great oratory skills, Vajpayee was also an acclaimed writer who wrote several poems. 

He was awarded India's highest civilian honor Bharat Ratna in 2015 on his birthday. His birthday, December 25, was also declared as the Good Governance Day by Narendra Modi government. 

The BJP stalwart slowly withdrew from public life due to illness and remained confined to his residence for many years. 

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