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| About Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
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 Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee is born on 25 December 1924, is an Indian statesman, who served as the eleventh Prime Minister of India. After a brief stint as Prime Minister in 1996, Vajpayee headed a coalition government from 19 March 1998 until 19 May 2004. He served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from Lucknow until 2009, and has since retired from active politics.
Education and personal life
He earned a masters degree in political science from the Victoria College (now Laxmibai College) and DAV College, Kanpur. He is well-known for being a poet, eminent journalist, and has published a book of poetry. He is a bachelor, and has adopted daughters of Mrs & Mr. B. N. Kaul: Nandita (Nanni) and Namita (Gunu). Nandita is a doctor in US and Namita lives in Delhi. Nandita is married to Ashok Nanda, a software engineer and Namita is married to Ranjan Bhattacharya and has a daughter. He is the first and thus far, only, bachelor Prime Minister of India.
Elected to Parliament
In 1951, Vajpayee, who always wanted to become a journalist, "came into politics by mistake," as he told Hari Ramachandran in the Reuters news service. He joined an early conservative political party, Jana Sangh, which was heavily influenced by Hindu nationalism, and served as private secretary to its founder and president, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee. When Mukherjee died in 1953, Vajpayee stood out as a top name in the party, especially since he had also kept busy editing and writing for party publications, in addition to spending some time as a social worker. He became leader of the Jana Sangh party (which was the predecessor to the BJP) in 1957 and was elected to the lower house of parliament, Lok Sabha (House of the People) that same year. During this time, the country's leader was Jawaharlal Nehru, who led India from its independence in 1947 until his death in 1964.
In 1962, Vajpayee was elected to the other house of parliament, Rajya Sabha, or Council of States, where he served until 1967, and again from 1986 to 1991. The legislator served as president of his party, Jana Sangh, until 1977, spending the whole time as leader of the opposition in parliament. On June 26, 1975, he was arrested during Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's "emergency," a point at which she outlawed the RSS and arrested thousands. In 1977, Vajpayee became minister of external affairs, or foreign minister. He held that post until 1980, when he helped found the BJP, serving as its president from 1980 to 1986. Vajpayee was elected to the Rajya Sabha again in 1986, serving until 1991. In 1992, Vajpayee's party suffered a serious blow when Hindu extremists destroyed a sixteenth-century mosque in the northen town of Ayodhya, spurring nationwide riots that ended in more than 3,000 deaths.
Vajpayee had cultivated a moderate position within the staunchly pro-Hindu BJP and built an impressive resume of government activity. He served on the Indian Delegation to Commonwealth Parliamentary Association meetings held in Canada in 1966, Zambia in 1980, and the Isle of Man (Britain) in 1984. He held positions on the Committee on Government Assurances from 1966 to 1967 and the Committee on Public Accounts from 1969 to 1970. An avid traveler, he attended a parliamentary goodwill mission to East Africa in 1965, a parliamentary delegation to Australia in 1967, and an Indian delegation to an Inter-Parliamentary Union Conference held in Japan in 1974, Sri Lanka in 1975, and Switzerland in 1984. In addition, he was part of a parliamentary delegation to the European Parliament in 1983 and went along on a delegation to the United Nations General Assembly in 1988, 1989, 1990, and 1991. He also served on the National Integration Council in 1958-62, 1967-73, 1986, and again beginning in 1991.
Became Prime Minister
Vajpayee briefly held the seat of prime minister in 1996, when the BJP took the most number of seats in parliament. Since no party held a majority, BJP was given the first shot at establishing a new government. In order to gain control, the BJP would have to form a coalition with other parties. However, a rift developed with the two other mainstream parties, the Congress Party and United Front, who feared that the BJP would be too divisive, given its strong pro-Hindu stance. Though Vajpayee had cultivated a reputation as a moderate, who put great distance between himself and the nationalistic elements within his party, the BJP could not garner enough support. After just 13 days in office, Vajpayee was forced to step down. The United Front, a loose coalition of left-wing and regional parties, was sworn in. In November 1997, the Congress party withdrew its support and Prime Minister I.K. Gujral's government fell. The president subsequently dissolved the Lok Sabha.
Early in 1998, India held elections once again. No party emerged with a clear majority, but the BJP roused enough support to lead a coalition government and, once again, Vajpayee was named prime minister. This time, after taking the oath, he won a vote of confidence from parliament and maintained his position.
Source
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BJP Haryana News |
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