On Thursday evening Mr. Vajpayee breathed his last at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi.
The central government has announced a period of seven-day mourning across the nation as a mark of respect to the departed leader and a half-day Central government holiday on today.
A Hindu nationalist from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Vajpayee had been hospitalised since June with a kidney infection and chest congestion.
While political leaders from across the party lines, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi, made a beeline at the hospital ahead of the announcement of the demise, it was the doctors of the premier healthcare institution who were the first to pay their last respects to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) co-founder.
The doctors paid tribute to the political stalwart inside the ward where the former prime minister underwent treatment. The doctors stood in a queue and observed silence to mark their last respect to the three-time prime minister of the country.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee, 93, breathed his last at 5.05 pm on Thursday and the same was confirmed by AIIMS through an official press release. “It is with profound grief that we inform about the sad demise of Former Prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee at 05:05pm on 16.08.2018. Shri Vajpayee was admitted in AIIMS on 11.06.2018 and was stable in the last 9 weeks under the care of a team of AIIMS doctors,” read the statement released by AIIMS.
Vajpayee served as India’s prime minister three times: for 13 days in 1996, 11 months in 1998 to 1999 and then from 1999 to 2004. He also served decades in parliament, and was a foreign minister from 1977 to 1980.
Commenting on the news of his death, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Vajpayee’s stewardship had put India on a fast track to growth. “It was Atal Ji’s exemplary leadership that set the foundations for a strong, prosperous and inclusive India in the 21st century,” Modi said in a tweet.
It was Atal Ji’s exemplary leadership that set the foundations for a strong, prosperous and inclusive India in the 21st century. His futuristic policies across various sectors touched the lives of each and every citizen of India.
“Today India lost a great son. Former PM, Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji, was loved and respected by millions. My condolences to his family & all his admirers. We will miss him” Congress President Mr.Rahul Gandhi said this on Twitter.
In his condolence message, Indian President Ram Nath Kovind stated: “His leadership, foresight, maturity and eloquence put him in a league of his own. Atalji, the Gentle Giant, will be missed by one and all.”
Vajpayee was a key figure in the development of India’s nuclear programme and gave the go-ahead for underground nuclear tests in 1998, believing nuclear weapons would be a deterrent against China and Pakistan.
Mr. Vajpayee was Prime Minister thrice in 1996, 1998-1999 and 1999-2004. As his health deteriorated, he slowly withdrew himself from public life and was confined to his residence for several years.
On 19 February, 1999, Vajpayee rode the bus to Pakistan on the Delhi-Lahore bus service called ‘Sada-e-Sarhad’, which means ‘Call of the Frontier’. It was launched as a symbol of the efforts made by the Vajpayee government to initiate a peaceful equation with Pakistan.
On the 72nd Independence Day, Narendra Modi said in his speech that the BJP government would follow Vajpayee’s perspective for peace in Jammu & Kashmir.
The mortal remains of the BJP co-founder was taken from the hospital to his residence, where political leaders from across the country converged to pay their last respects to the iconic leader. From Prime Minister Modi to Sonia Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, several big names of the Indian polity reached Vajpayee’s residence soon after the news of his demise came in.
The mortal was kept at BJP headquarters for the general public to pay their last respect from 9 am to 1 pm today. Former prime minister and Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee cremated with full state honours at Smriti Sthal in New Delhi.
Former Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, Pakistan acting law minister Syed Ali Zafar, Nepal Foreign Minister Pradip Kumar Gyawali attended at funeral of Mr. Vajpayee. Representatives from various countries to paid homage. Sri Lanka acting foreign minister Lakshman Kiriella arrived in New Delhi to attend former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s funeral at Smriti Sthal at 4 pm.
King of Bhutan Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck paid his last respects to former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. “We are here to share your grief and pay our condolences on the behalf of people of Pakistan and the Government of Pakistan,” Pakistan law minister Ali Zafar told an Indian Media.
He was an enormously important person who we have great respect for and it’s a great loss for India. I wanted to pay my respects to a man of that stature: Dominic Asquith, British High Commissioner to India said to the Journalists.
The former journalist and poet-turned-politican was born on December 25, 1924, to a family of high-caste Brahmins.
> Pratyusha Mukherjee
