Atal Bihari Vajpayee death anniversary: PM Modi, President Murmu, NDA leaders pay tribute to the former prime minister

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Droupadi Murmu, and NDA leaders paid floral tributes to the former prime minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stalwart Atal Bihari Vajpayee on his 5th death anniversary at Sadaiv Atal' memorial.

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh, Praful Patel, Arjun Ram Meghwal, Union Minister and Apna Dal (Soneylal) leader Anupriya Patel and HAM's Jitan Ram Manjhi paid tribute to the former prime minister. Former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee's foster daughter Namita Kaul Bhattacharya also paid floral tribute at ‘Sadaiv Atal’ on his death anniversary.

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Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, PM Modi said that the country benefitted greatly from Vajpayee’s leadership.

"I join the 140 crore people of India in paying homage to the remarkable Atal Ji on his Punya Tithi. India benefitted greatly from his leadership. He played a pivotal role in boosting our nation's progress and in taking it to the 21st century in a wide range of sectors,” he wrote on X.

Vajpayee was born in Gwalior in 1924. He was the face of the BJP for decades and was the first non-Congress prime minister to have served a full term in office.

Vajpayee served as the Prime Minister of India from May 16, 1996, to June 1, 1996, and again from 19 March 1998 to 22 May 2004. He also served as India's External Affairs Minister in the cabinet of Prime Minister Moraji Desai from 1977 to 1979. In 2018, he passed away at AIIMS Hospital in Delhi on August 16.

After coming to power in 2014, PM Modi, in order to honour the former Prime Minister and Bharat Ratna recipient declared 25 December would be celebrated as Good Governance Day every year which is his birth date.

(With inputs from ANI)