Atal Behari Vajpayee became the Prime Minister of India thrice. It was also during his tenure that India successfully conducted nuclear tests at Pokhran and renewed hopes for peace between India and Pakistan emerged with the start of the New Delhi-Lahore bus service. His government has been till date the only non-Congress government to stay in power for 5 years. Besides being a politician, Atal Behari Vajpayee is also a renowned poet.
Atal Behari Vajpayee was born on 25th December, 1924 in Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh . He began his career in politics as a freedom fighter. Later he joined the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS) under the leadership of Syama Prasad Mookerjee. As the new leader of BJS, Vajpayee was elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time in 1957.
Vajpayee became a Union Minister for the first time in 1977 when the Moraji Desai-led Janata coalition came to power for the first time. He was the Minister of External Affairs. His career as a minister was short-lived as he resigned from his post following the resignation of Morarji Desai. In 1980, Vajpayee along with Lal Krishna Advani and others from the BJS and Rashtriya Swyam Sevak Sangh (RSS), formed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Vajpayee, as the President of the BJP, raised his voice against the violence inflicted on the Sikhs after the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
By 1984 elections, the BJP had established itself as a powerful party in Indian politics. The BJP formed a government after the 1996 elections after emerging as the single largest party. However, the government collapsed after only 13 days as Vajpayee was unable to prove his majority. He thus became the shortest serving Prime Minister in India. The BJP-led coalition government came back to power once again in 1998 as the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Following the withdrawal of support by the AIADMK, the government fell once again in 1999. This time, however, the NDA came back with full majority and Vajpayee was able to complete five years in office for the first time.
Get to know more about Indian Politicians and Government Officials:
Inder Kumar Gujral
Indira Gandhi
Biju Patnaik
Jyoti Basu
Dr. Rajendra Prasad
A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
Pramod Mahajan
P. Chidambaram
Lalu Prasad Yadav
Sarojini Naidu
T.N. Seshan
J.M. Lyngdoh
