Congress, Rahul Gandhi mourn demise of ‘great son’ of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who breathed his last on Thursday evening, was one of the few political leaders who inspire even those who do not belong to the same political ideology. As the report of the former prime minister’s death came, the Congress party and its chief Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter to express their grief.

The Congress president remembered the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) co-founder and political stalwart as “a great son” of the country. The Gandhi scion noted that the three-time Prime Minister “was loved and respected by millions”.

Today India lost a great son. Former PM, Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji, was loved and respected by millions. My condolences to his family & all his admirers. We will miss him. #AtalBihariVajpayee — Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 16, 2018

“Today India lost a great son.  Former PM, Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji, was loved and respected by millions. My condolences to his family & all his admirers. We will miss him,” tweeted Rahul Gandhi.

The Congress party also took to the microblogging site, referring to Vajpayee as “a great leader, loved by many & revered by all”. The tweet read, “Former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee was a great leader, loved by many & revered by all. We grieve his demise & our thoughts & prayers are with his family today.”

Former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee was a great leader, loved by many & revered by all. We grieve his demise & our thoughts & prayers are with his family today. #AtalBihariVajpayee pic.twitter.com/MmtBkPBjrK — Congress (@INCIndia) August 16, 2018

Earlier on Thursday, the Congress president also made a visit to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to inquire about the health condition of the former prime minister, as the hospital had already declared that his medical condition was critical.

Vajpayee breathed his last at 5.05 pm on Thursday, and the same was confirmed by AIIMS through a press release.

“It is with profound grief that we inform about the sad demise of Former Prime Minister of India, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee at 05:05pm on 16.08.2018. Shri Vajpayee was admitted in AIIMS on 11.06.2018 and was stable in the last 9 weeks under the care of a team of AIIMS doctors,” read the statement released by AIIMS.

It further read, “Unfortunately, his condition deteriorated over the last 36 hours and he was put on life support systems. Despite the best of efforts, we have lost him today. We join the Nation in deeply mourning this great loss.”