Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Name: Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Date of Birth: December 25, 1924

Place of Birth: Madhya Pradesh


Description:-

Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister of India, in 1996, and again from October 13, 1998 until May 19, 2004. Atal Bihari Vajpayee is a native of Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh and has been active in Indian politics throughout his adult life (as a member of parliament, he has often resided in Delhi). He holds a masters degree in political science and was educated at the Victoria College, Gwalior (now Laxmibai College) and DAV College, Kanpur. He is also a poet and writer, and has published several volumes of poetry, essays and speeches. He has been described as a follower of the guru Sathya Sai Baba.Vajpayee is a bachelor and has the adopted daughters of Mr. and Mrs. B. N. Kaul, Nandita (Nanni) and Namita (Gunu). Nandita is a doctor residing in the US and is married to Ashok Nanda, a software engineer. Namita, who resides in Delhi, is married to Ranjan Bhattacharya and they have a daughter.

Political energy and expansion made BJP the single-largest political party in the Lok Sabha elected in 1996. Mired down by corruption scandals, the Congress was at a historic low, and a vast medley of regional parties and break-off factions dominated the hung Parliament. Asked to form the government, A.B. Vajpayee was sworn in as prime minister, but the BJP failed to gather enough support from other parties to form a majority. Vajpayee resigned after just 13 days, when it became clear that he could not garner a majority. After a third-party coalition governed India between 1996 and 1998, the terribly divided Parliament was dissolved and fresh elections held. These elections again put the BJP at the head. This time, a cohesive bloc of political parties lined up with it to form the National Democratic Alliance, and A.B. Vajpayee was sworn in as the prime minister. The NDA proved its 286 vote majority in a narrow vote of confidence. Towards the end of 1998 however, the AIADMK under J.Jayalalitha withdrew its support from the 13-month old government. The government lost the ensuing vote of confidence motion by a single vote. As the opposition was unable to come up with the numbers to form the new government, the country returned to elections with Vajpayee remaining the "care-taker prime minister". After the election in 1999, Vajpayee was sworn in as the Prime Minister for the third time. The coalition government that was formed lasted its full term of 5 years – the only non-Congress government to do so.

His premiership began at a decisive phase of national life and history: the Congress Party, dominant for over 40 years, appeared irreparably damaged, and fractious regional parties seemed to threaten the very stability of the nation by continually fracturing government work.