toc
Introduction of Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Pandit Krishna Bihari Vajpayee, who hailed from Bateshwar, a historic location in the Agra district of Uttar Pradesh, worked as an educator in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh. Atal ji was born to his wife, Krishna Vajpayee, on December 25, 1924, during the Brahmamuhurta in the Shinde cantonment. His father, Krishna Bihari Vajpayee, in addition to his teaching role in Gwalior, was also a distinguished poet in both the Hindi and Braj languages.
The son inherited the poetic qualities through hereditary tradition. The direction of Atal ji's life changed after reading the immortal work "Vijay Pataka" written by Mahatma Ramchandra Veer. Atal ji completed his BA from Victoria College (now Lakshmibai College) of Gwalior.
He became a volunteer of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh from his student life and since then he has been participating in national level debate competitions.
He passed his M.A. examination in Political Science from DAV College, Kanpur in first division.Thereafter, he started LLB studies along with his father in Kanpur, but quit it midway to devote himself wholeheartedly to Sangh's work.
He not only studied politics under the guidance of Dr. Syama Prasad Mukherjee and Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya, but also edited magazines like Panchajanya, Rashtradharma, Dainik Swadesh and Veer Arjun efficiently.
He was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 2015 for his contribution and extraordinary work for all-round development.
Political life
He was one of the founding members of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh and held the position of national president from 1968 to 1973. He contested in the Lok Sabha elections for the first time in 1952, but was unsuccessful.
Nevertheless, he maintained his resolve, and in 1957, he achieved victory in the Lok Sabha election as a candidate of the Jana Sangh from Balrampur (Gonda district, Uttar Pradesh).
He served as the leader of the Jana Sangh parliamentary party for a continuous span of twenty years, from 1957 until 1977, when the Janata Party was formed.
During the Morarji Desai administration from 1977 to 1979, he held the position of foreign minister, where he significantly influenced India's international standing.
In 1980, feeling dissatisfied with the Janata Party, he left it and played a key role in the establishment of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Vajpayee was appointed as the President of the Bharatiya Janata Party, an organization that was founded on 6 April 1980.
He was elected to the Rajya Sabha on two separate occasions. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the vigilant guardian of democracy, took on the role of Prime Minister in 1996.
He was again sworn in as Prime Minister on 19 April 1998 and under his leadership, the coalition government of 13 parties touched many dimensions of progress in the country in five years.
In the Lok Sabha elections held in the scorching heat of 2004, before the completion of his term, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) contested the elections under the leadership of Vajpayee and gave the slogan of Bharat Uday (India Shining).
No party got majority in this election. In such a situation, with the support of leftist parties, Congress succeeded in forming the central government of India and BJP was forced to sit in opposition.Presently, he had retired from politics and was living in the government residence at 6-A Krishna Menon Marg in New Delhi.
Making India a nuclear power
The Atal government declared India a nuclear power by conducting five underground nuclear tests in Pokhran on 11 and 13 May 1998. With this step, he established India as an undisputed global power on the world map.
Not only this, after this many sanctions were imposed on India by western countries but the Vajpayee government faced everything firmly and touched the heights of economic development.
Personal life
Vajpayee remained unmarried throughout his life. He adopted longtime friend Rajkumari Kaul and Namita Bhattacharya, daughter of B.N. Kaul. Rajkumari Kaul died in 2014.
Atal ji lived with Namita and her husband Ranjan Bhattacharya. He was a well-known poet, writing in Hindi. His published works include Kaidi Kavirai Kundaliyan, a collection of poems written while imprisoned during the 1975-77 Emergency, and Amar Aag.
Regarding his poetry he wrote, "My poetry is a declaration of war, not an elegy to defeat. It is not the drumbeat of despair of the defeated soldier but the battle cry of the victorious warrior. It is not the wish of despair but the stirring shout of victory.
Death
Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji had a heart attack in 2009, after which he became unable to speak.
He was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on 11 June 2018 due to a kidney infection and some other health issues,Where he died on 16 August 2018 at 05:05 pm.
