India’s tenth Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji was a poet, thinker, journalist, politician, strong speaker and multifaceted talent. He was born on 25 December 1924 in Gwalior district of Madhya Pradesh. His mother’s name was Krishna Devi and father’s name was Krishna Bihari Bajpayee.
Personal life:
Pandit Krishna Bihari Vajpayee, a native of Bateshwar, the ancient place of Agra district in Uttar Pradesh, was a teacher in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh. Atal ji was born on 25 December 1924. Atal ji’s BA was educated in Victoria College, Gwalior. From student life, he became a volunteer of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and since then continued to participate in national level debate competitions. He passed his MA in Political Science in first class from DAV College, Kanpur. Read More: Thoughts and Brief Biography of Pt. Madan Mohan Malviya
After that, along with his father, he also started LLB studies in Kanpur itself, but giving it a break in the middle, he joined the work of the Sangh with full devotion. Under the guidance of Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee and Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay, he not only read the lessons of politics, but also did the work of editing magazines like Panchjanya, Rashtradharma, Dainik Swadesh and Veer Arjun efficiently. Atal ji remained unmarried for life, but he had adopted Namita Bhattacharya. Namita and her husband Ranjan Bhattacharya lived with Atal ji. In 2015, he was awarded the Bharat Ratna for his contribution to India’s development and extraordinary work.
Political life :
Before independence, he started his political journey as a freedom fighter and worked with many big leaders. After independence, he contested the Lok Sabha elections for the first time in 1955 but did not get success. After this, in the year 1957, he won from Balrampur, Uttar Pradesh on behalf of Jana Sangh. He was the President of Bharatiya Jana Sangh from 1968 to 1973. Later, he was the Foreign Minister from 1977 to 1979 in the Morarji Desai government led by the Janata Party. But dissatisfied with the Janata Party, he left the party in 1980.
After this, on 06 April 1980, he along with LK Advani and Bhairon Singh Shekhawat founded the Bharatiya Janata Party. In the 1984 Lok Sabha elections, his party won 02 seats. Fighting from there, the BJP went ahead and in 1993 he became the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament. In 1995, he was declared the candidate for the post of Prime Minister. Atal ji was the Prime Minister of India thrice, first from 16 May 1996 to 1 June 1996, for the second time from 19 March 1998 to 13 October 1999, then for the third time from 13 October to 22 May 2004. Under his leadership, the country touched new heights of progress.
Atal ji was the first non-Congress Prime Minister, who completed 5 years in the post of Prime Minister without any problem! He formed the government with a coalition of 24 parties, which he ran successfully. But in the Lok Sabha elections held before the completion of the term in 2004, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance contested under the leadership of Vajpayee, but no party got a majority in this election. In such a situation, with the support of the Left parties, the Congress succeeded in retaining the central government of India and the BJP was forced to sit in the opposition. He had retired from politics since 2005 and lived in a government residence at 6-A Krishna Menon Marg in New Delhi.
Some of his major works as Prime Minister:
Nuclear Testing: On 11 and 13 May 1998, the Atal Government declared India as a nuclear power country by detonating five underground nuclear tests in Pokhran. With this move, he unquestionably placed India on the world map as a formidable global power. All this was done in such secrecy that the western countries with highly developed spy satellites and technology did not even know about it. Not only this, after this, many restrictions were imposed on India by the western countries, but the Vajpayee government, facing everyone firmly, touched the heights of economic development.
Initiative to improve relations with Pakistan: On 19 February 1999, a bus service from Delhi to Lahore was started under the name Sada-e-Sarhad. Inaugurating this service, Vajpayee ji visited Pakistan as the first passenger and met Nawaz Sharif and made a new beginning in mutual relations!
Kargil War: Despite Atal ji’s efforts to improve relations, Pakistan has betrayed in return according to its nature! Shortly after the Lahore visit, on the behest of the then army chief of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, the Pakistani army and militants infiltrated the Kargil area and captured many mountain peaks. Respecting the international advice not to violate Pakistan’s border, the Atal government took patient but concrete action to liberate Indian territory.
Golden Quadrilateral Project: The Golden Quadrilateral project was started to connect the four corners of India by road. Under this, Delhi, Calcutta, Chennai and Mumbai were connected by highways. It is believed that the number of roads built in India during the reign of Atal ji was not done during the time of any Prime Minister of independent India.
Some other major works of Atal Sarkar:
- Resolved the Cauvery water dispute which is more than a hundred years old.
- Formed a working group for infrastructure, Information and Technology working group for software development, Central Electricity Regulatory Commission etc. to accelerate the pace of electrification.
- Take steps to strengthen the infrastructure by developing national highways and airports, introducing a new telecom policy and the Konkan Railway.
- National Security Committee, Economic Advisory Committee, Trade and Industry Committee were also constituted.
- A conference of Chief Ministers was called to control the prices of essential consumer goods.
- Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan was started in the year 2001.
- Started seven point poverty alleviation program for the poorest area of Orissa.
- Urban Ceiling Act was abolished to encourage housing construction.
- Introduced an insurance scheme for rural employment generation and for people of Indian origin settled abroad.
Death:
He died on 16 August 2018 in AIIMS, Delhi. On 17 August 2018, his adopted daughter Namita Bhattacharya lit the fire as per Hindu rituals. In his last journey, hundreds of leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi walked on foot and reached the last pilgrimage site. The Government of India declared seven days of national mourning. Many nations including America, China, Bangladesh, Britain, Nepal, Japan expressed grief over his death. Their ashes were immersed in Hari ki Pauri as well as in other major rivers of India. His tomb has been built in Shanti Van near Rajghat.
Life introduction :
| Date of Birth / Death : | 25 December 1924 / 16 August 2018 |
| Nickname : | Bhishma, Atalji, Father |
| Full Name / Real Name / Alias : | Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
| Place of Birth : | Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh |
| Citizenship / Nationality: | Indian |
| Home Town : | Uttar Pradesh |
| Length : | 168 cm |
| Religion / Caste : | Hindu / Brahmin |
| Amount : | Capricorn |
| Education / Educational Qualification : | bo ao, amo ao |
| School / School : | Government Higher Secondary School, Gorkhi, Gwalior |
| College / University : | Victoria College, Gwalior; Dayanand Anglo Vedic College, Kanpur |
| Profession / Occupation : | Politician / Poet |
| Marital Status : | Single |
| Wife / Girlfriend / Girlfriend : | not known |
| Children : | Namita Bhattacharya (adopted) |
| Parents : | Mother – Krishna Devi, Father – Krishna Bihari Bajpai |
| Brother-Sister : | Brother – Awadh Bihari Vajpayee, Prem Bihari Vajpayee, Suda Bihari Vajpayee; Sister- Urmila Mishra, Vimala Mishra, Kamala Devi |
| Hobbies / Interests : | Writing Poetry, Listening to Music, Cooking |
| Favorite Politician : | Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, PV Narasimha Rao |
| Favorite Cuisine/Food : | Poori Kachori, Carrot Halwa, Malpua, Khichdi, Kheer |
| Favorite author : | Premchand, Saratchandra Chattopadhyay |
| Favorite Singer / Composer : | SD Varman, Lata Mangeshkar |
| Favorite Actor : | Sanjeev Kumar, Dilip Kumar |
| Favorite Actress : | Suchitra Sen, Nutan, Rakhi, Hema Malini |
| Favorite movie : | devdas, bandini, third oath, weather, mamta, storm, gandhi |
| Favorite Song : | Oh my manjhi, oh brother, sometimes in my heart |
Some of the major published works of Atal ji are as follows:
- Rag Rag Hindu My Introduction
- death or murder
- Amar Sacrifice (collection of Atal ji’s statements in Lok Sabha)
- Prisoner Kaviray’s horoscopes
- three decades in parliament
- immortal fire
- some articles: some speeches
- secular cause
- the slippery roads of politics
- point of view, etc.
- my fifty one poems
Some important comments of Atal ji:
- I have a vision for India – an India that is free from hunger, fear, illiteracy and deprivation.
- We did not do justice to the revolutionaries, the countrymen are forgetting the great revolutionaries, all this happened after independence due to the excess of non-violence.
- My poem is a declaration of war, not a prelude to defeat. It is not the despair of a defeated soldier, it is the resolve of a fighting warrior. It is not a voice of despair, it is a cry of confidence.
Honors and Awards:
- In 1992, he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in the PO VO Narasimha Rao government.
- In 1994, he was honored with Lokmanya Tilak Award and Pandit Govind Vallabh Pant Award.
- He received the Outstanding Parliamentarian Award in 1994 itself.
- In 2014, he was honored with Bharat Ratna, India’s highest honor. For the first time, the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee (then) broke the protocol and gave this honor at his residence.
Some interesting information related to the life of Atal Bihari Vajpayee:
- Atal Bihari Vajpayee remained unmarried for life.
- He is also a brilliant and eloquent speaker and a proven Hindi poet.
- Atal has been the longest-serving MP and also the first non-Congress Prime Minister to complete a five-year term.
- Atal ji was the first Prime Minister who not only gave stability to the coalition government but also successfully operated it.
- Atal ji was the first foreign minister who made India proud by giving a speech in Hindi in the United Nations.
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