Atal Bihari Vajpayee, India’s nuclear myth buster, dead
Atal Bihari Vajpayee died at 5.05pm in AIIMS Delhi, more than two months after he was hospitalised
New Delhi: Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) for over nine weeks, passed away on Thursday, an official statement from the premier medical institute said. The 93-year-old veteran Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader was in a critical condition and was continuously on advanced life support. His medical condition deteriorated in the last 48 hours, the doctors said.
“It is with profound grief that we inform about the sad demise of Former Prime Minister of India, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee at 05:05pm on 16.08.2018,” said AIIMS in a medical bulletin.
“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. Unfortunately, his condition deteriorated over the last 36 hours and he was put on life support systems. Despite the best of efforts, we have lost him today. We join the Nation in deeply mourning this great loss,” AIIMS added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited the hospital twice in 24 hours to enquire about his health condition. After Vajpayee’s medical condition deteriorated on Wednesday, several politicians went to visit him. Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K Advani, BJP president Amit Shah, BJP national spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain and Union HRD minister Prakash Javadekar, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu were among those who visited the ailing leader on Thursday before his demise.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee cancelled her work to visit Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Thursday. Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Jitendra Singh and BJP leader Bhupender Yadav reached Vajpayee’s house on Thursday afternoon. Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar also came down to Delhi to visit Vajpayee.
Several people across India arranged religious prayers for the ailing leader’s well being. Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech on Wednesday from the ramparts of Red Fort in Delhi also mentioned about Vajpayee’s approach towards the Jammu & Kashmir (J&K). “Regarding J&K, the path shown by Atal Bihari Vajpayeeji is the right one. We want to move ahead on that road. Vajpayeeji said Insaniyat, Jamhuriyat, Kashmiriyat (humanism, democracy, Kashmiriyat)—with these three basic elements we want to develop Jammu & Kashmir,” Modi said in his speech.
“Whether it is Ladakh or Jammu or Srinagar valley, we want balanced development where an ordinary person’s aspirations are fulfilled, infrastructure is strengthened; we want to move ahead with brotherhood in our hearts. We do not want to move on the road of bullets and abuses, we want to move ahead with love and affection with the Kashmiri people who have stood with us in patriotic fervour,” he said.
Vajpayee was admitted to AIIMS following respiratory and kidney problems around 11.30 am on 11 June. He was diagnosed with urinary tract infection, low urine output and chest congestion.
The 93-year-old BJP leader was the oldest living former Indian prime minister. Vajpayee had undergone knee replacement surgery at Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai in 2001 and suffered a stroke in 2009 that impaired his speech. He was also suffering from diabetes and dementia.
A founding member of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, a precursor of the Bharatiya Janata Party, and a parliamentarian for four decades, Vajpayee is the first non-Congress leader to have completed a five-year term (1999-2004) as India’s prime minister.
During his second term, from 1998 to 1999, India conducted the second Pokhran nuclear tests (May 1998) and Vajpayee attended the Lahore summit (February 1999) where he travelled to Pakistan in a bus for establishing full-fledged diplomatic relations with the country. That, however, wasn’t to be as India and Pakistan soon fought the Kargil War (1999).
The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance returned to power in the aftermath of the Kargil war with 303 seats in the Lok Sabha, and Vajpayee was chosen prime minister again.
Vajpayee’s health was a cause of concern for the saffron party. He had undergone a knee replacement surgery at Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai in 2001 and had suffered a stroke in 2009 that had impaired his speech. He was also suffering from diabetes and dementia. He had gradually disappeared from public life after movement became limited.
Born on 25 December 1924, Vajpayee never married and has an adopted daughter, Namita.
Catch all the Politics News and Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News.
MoreLess
First Published:16 Aug 2018, 11:37 PM IST
- Top Gainers
- Top Losers
- 52 Week High