Prime Minister Narendra Modi pays tributes to former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee on his death anniversary

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday paid his tributes to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on his death anniversary. He stated that the nation benefitted greatly from his leadership.

Taking to microblogging platform X, formerly known as Twitter, PM Modi said Vajpayee played a significant role in boosting the country's progress and taking it to the 21st century in a wide range of sectors.

"I join the 140 crore people of India in paying homage to the remarkable Atal Ji on his Punya Tithi. India benefitted greatly from his leadership. He played a pivotal role in boosting our nation's progress and in taking it to the 21st century in a wide range of sectors," he wrote.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stalwart, Vajpayee was the face of the party for several years and was also the very first non-Congress prime minister to have served a full term in office.

Born in Gwalior in 1924, Atal Bihari Vajpayee served as the Prime Minister of India three times - first from May 16, 1996, to June 1, 1996, then for a period of 13 months from 1998 to mid-1999, and then served a full term from 13 October 1999 to 22 May 2004.

He also served as India's External Affairs Minister in the cabinet of Prime Minister Moraji Desai from the year 1977 to 1979.

He breathed his last at AIIMS Hospital in Delhi on August 16 in the year 2018.

After coming to power in the year 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared December 25 as Good Governance Day in order to honour Vajpayee on his birthday.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee is the first Prime Minister since Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru to have become Prime Minister of India with two successive mandates.

He was elected to the Lok Sabha (House of the People) nine times and to the Rajya Sabha (House of the States) twice.

He was a Bharat Ratna recipient and was also honoured with Padma Vibhushan.

(With inputs from agencies)

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