Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Vajpayee was born in Gwalior in 1924 into the family of a schoolteacher, Krishna Bihari Vajpayee. He studied at Victoria College in Gwalior and D.A.V. College in Kanpur, completing a master’s degree in political science. He also studied law and developed interests in international affairs. Before working full time in politics, he worked as a journalist and edited several Hindi publications.

Vajpayee joined the Bharatiya Jana Sangh in 1951 and entered the Lok Sabha in 1957. His parliamentary career included service in both houses, leadership of the Jana Sangh parliamentary party and chairmanships of parliamentary committees. He later became president of the Jana Sangh and subsequently the Bharatiya Janata Party. He also served as Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha before becoming Prime Minister.

As External Affairs Minister in the late 1970s, Vajpayee served in the Janata government. He first became Prime Minister in May 1996 for a short term and returned in March 1998. In October 1999 he took office again at the head of a National Democratic Alliance government. His final period as Prime Minister continued until May 2004, combining coalition leadership with responsibility for the Union government.

Vajpayee continued literary work alongside his parliamentary career, publishing poetry and collections of political speeches. His books included Meri Ekyavan Kavitayen and volumes documenting his speeches in Parliament and as External Affairs Minister. He received the Padma Vibhushan in 1992 and parliamentary recognition in 1994. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 2015. Government retrospectives also associate his premiership with national highways, rural roads and telecommunications infrastructure. He died at AIIMS in New Delhi on 16 August 2018.