New Delhi: Atal Bihari Vajpayee is one of the most famous names in Indian politics who served as India’s Prime Minister first for just 13 days in 1996 followed by a term of only 13 months between 1998 and 1999, and finally got the chance to serve full term from 1999 to 2004, during which he reportedly proved his mettle. The first non-Congress PM who served a full term in office, Vajpayee was also known as a poet. Today, on his death anniversary, we look at some interesting facts about Vajpayee.
10 interesting facts about Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Atal Bihari Vajpayee began his career as an activist in Gwalior with Arya Kumar Sabha, and in 1939, he joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Babasaheb Apte, the first ‘pracharak’ of the RSS influenced him greatly and he became RSS’ pracharak in 1947.
Vajpayee was a law student but he gave up his studies due to riots before and after Partition. He worked for Deendayal Upadhyaya’s newspapers, Panchjanya, Rashtradharma, Veer Arjun and Swadesh.
It was said that he participated in the Quit India Movement in August 1942 and was arrested along with his elder brother Prem but Vajpayee himself has labelled the allegation of participation in the Movement to be a rumour.
According to reports, India’s first PM Jawaharlal Nehru influenced Vajpayee so much so that he mirrored Nehru’s style, diction, and tone of his speeches and also took a leaf out of the Congress politician’s book when it came to leadership.
PM Nehru was once so impressed by Vajpayee’s oratory skills in the Lok Sabha that he predicted him to become India’s PM someday. When Nehru passed away on May 27, 1964, Vajpayee described him as ‘the orchestrator of the impossible and inconceivable’.
Vajpayee was a member of the Parliament of India for more than 50 years and was elected to the Lok Sabha 10 times and to the Rajya Sabha twice.
Vajpayee was a founding member of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh and from 1968 to 1972, he was the party’s president. Later, the party merged with several other parties to form the Janata Party, which defeated Indira Gandhi’s Congress in the Lok Sabha elections in 1977.
After the Bharatiya Janata Party was formed in 1980 by the former members of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, Vajpayee served as the first president of the party.
India carried out the Pokhran-II nuclear tests in 1998 when Vajpayee was the Prime Minister and he tried to improve diplomatic relations with Pakistan and even travelled to Lahore by bus to meet Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan’s Prime Minister. Following the Kargil War, he invited Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to India for a summit at Agra.
His government brought about several reforms and in 2014, PM Modi’s government declared that Good Governance Day would be observed on Vajpayee’s birthday on December 25. In 2015, he was conferred with Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian honour of India.
The first non-Congress PM who served full term in the office, Vajpayee was also known as a poet. Today, on his death anniversary, we take a look at some of the interesting facts about Vajpayee. knowledge Knowledge News, Photos and Videos on General Knowledge
