Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Atal Bihari Vajpayee was a leader who was also a poet. He could make a whole audience laugh, cry and think in the same speech.

As Prime Minister he built long highways to connect distant villages, opened a friendly bus service from Delhi to Lahore, and encouraged India to walk with confidence into the new century. Even his opponents said he could disagree without being unkind.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee was born in 1924 in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, and joined public life very young. A gifted orator in Hindi, he served in Parliament for over four decades.

He became Prime Minister three times — for a brief 13 days in 1996, again from 1998 to 1999, and finally for a full term from 1999 to 2004, leading the National Democratic Alliance government.

His government carried out the Pokhran-II nuclear tests in May 1998, launched the ambitious Golden Quadrilateral highway project connecting Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, and started the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana to give paved roads to rural villages. He also pursued peace with Pakistan through his famous bus journey to Lahore in 1999.

He was known for his poetry, warm humour and a personal style that won respect across party lines. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 2015.