Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee, India’s beloved leader will always be cherished for his contribution to Indian politics. Atal Ji was to Krishna Devi and Krishna Bihari Vajpayee on 25 December 1924 at Gwalior. His activism started with Arya Kumar Sabha of Gwalior, the youth wing of the Arya Samaj, of which he became the general secretary in 1944.
- In August 1942, he and his elder brother Prem were arrested for 24 days during the Quit India Movement.
- At the age of 16 years, Vajpayee became an active member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh(RSS).
- After the death of Deendayal Upadhyaya, the leadership of the Jana Sangh passed to Vajpayee.
- He became the national president of the Jana Sangh in 1968, running the party along with Nanaji Deshmukh, Balraj Madhok, and L. K. Advani.
The former members of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, who were dismissed by the national executive council of Jana Sangh, came together to form the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 1980, with Vajpayee as its first President.
On the occasion of his birth anniversary, India celebrates 25th Dec as a good Governance Day.
Here some of the unknown facts about Atal Ji:
- The only leader who was elected as PM of India 3 times.
In 1996, he was PM for 13 days.
In 1998– 99, he was PM for 13 months.
On 13 Oct 1999, he took oath as PM of India for the third time. - Atal Bihari Vajpayee was born in a brahmin family and his favorite food was a prawn.
- Vajpayee was the first Indian politician to deliver a speech in Hindi at the United Nations General Assembly(UNGA).
- During his tenure as PM, India conducted a successful nuclear test at Pokhran, Rajasthan, named Operation Shakti.
- Vajpayee wanted to become a journalist but entered politics by mistake, as told by him in an interview.
- He was a good orator, by seeing his Oration skills Pandit Nehru Predicted that Atalji will become Prime Minister of India one day.
- Vajpayee was the first Prime Minister to run a Coalition Government in India with 26 parties.
- Vajpayee was the first-ever non-congress PM to serve a full term of 5 years in office.
- Vajpayee Ji was the first PM to inaugurate the historic Delhi-Lahore bus service in February 1999.
- Ex-PM P.V Narasimha Rao used to treated Atal Ji as his political guru.
- His father was his classmate. He and his father went to the same Law College (DAV College in Kanpur) together for their Law studies.
- He is the only parliamentarian to win from 6 Lok Sabha constituencies from 4 states. Balrampur (UP), Lucknow (UP), New Delhi, Vidisha (MP), Gwalior (MP), Gandhi Nagar (Gujarat).
- He remained an M. P. (Member of Parliament) for 47 years (11 times from Lok Sabha and 2 times from Rajya Sabha).One Of The Longest-Serving Parliamentarians.
That’s why he is also known as
“Bhishma Pitamaha of Indian politics”
