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Remembering Atal Bihari Vajpayee: Glimpses Of His Life And Legacy On His Death Anniversary
From a powerful speaker to a gifted poet, today marks the death anniversary of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the former Prime Minister of India and a Bharat Ratna awardee. Honoured with the Bharat Ratna and is known for his leadership. The Atal Bihari government declared India a nuclear-armed nation by conducting five underground nuclear tests at Pokhran on May 11 and 13, 1998.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the only leader to win elections from six Lok Sabha constituencies across Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, New Delhi, and Gujarat.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee was imprisoned for 23 days due to his participation in the Quit India Movement.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee was honoured with several prestigious awards like Padma Vibhushan in 1992, an honorary D.Litt. from Kanpur University in 1993, Lokmanya Tilak Award in 1994, Best Parliamentarian Award in 1994, Pandit Govind Vallabh Pant Award in 1994 and Bharat Ratna in 2015.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee was not only a distinguished politician but also a great poet. The renowned poetry book, "Meri Ikaiwan Kavitaayein," showcases his poetic talent. Vajpayee inherited his gift for poetic creation and appreciation from his father, Krishna Bihari Vajpayee, who was a well-known poet in the Gwalior princely state.
He became the first Prime Minister from the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government. In 1998, under Vajpayee's leadership, the NDA government was formed. However, the government fell in 1999, approximately 13 months later, after Jayalalitha withdrew her support.
From 1999 to 2004, Atal Bihari became the first Prime Minister of India to lead a non-Congress government.