Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Atal Bihari Vajpayee was an Indian politician and poet who served as the 10th Prime Minister of India. He held office for three terms: first for 13 days in 1996, then for 13 months from 1998 to 1999, followed by a full term from 1999 to 2004. Notably, he was the first non-Indian National Congress Prime Minister to serve a full term. A co-founder and senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Vajpayee was also associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a Hindu nationalist volunteer organization. He was a prolific Hindi poet and writer.

Over his political career spanning five decades, he was elected ten times to the Lok Sabha and twice to the Rajya Sabha. Vajpayee led India through significant events such as the Pokhran-II nuclear tests in 1998 and endeavored to improve diplomatic relations with Pakistan, notably through the historic bus journey to Lahore to meet Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. His tenure was also marked by challenges such as the 2001 Indian Parliament attack and the 2002 Gujarat riots.

Vajpayee was honored posthumously with India's highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna, and his birthday, December 25, was declared as Good Governance Day. He passed away in 2018 due to age-related illness.