New Delhi: Congress president Rahul Gandhi and former prime minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday expressed grief at the passing away of BJP stalwart Atal Bihari Vajpayee and recalled him as one of the “tallest leaders” of modern India.
“I have learnt with profound sorrow about the sad demise of Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji. An excellent orator, an impressive poet, an exceptional Public Servant, an outstanding Parliamentarian and a great Prime Minister, Shri Vajpayee ji stood among the tallest leaders of modern India, who spent his whole life serving our great country. His services to our nation will be remembered for a long time to come,” Singh, who was Vajpayee’s successor in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), said in a statement.
Gandhi, who tweeted his statement after Vajpayee’s death, said: “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.”
Born on December 25, 1924, in Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior, the BJP patriarch was a Member of Parliament since 1957 till the end of 2005. The saffron party website calls him the “first and the only person since Jawaharlal Nehru to occupy the office of the Prime Minister of India through three successive Lok Sabhas”. He held the prime ministerial post from May 16-31, 1996, and then again for from March 19, 1998, to May 13, 2004.
Vajpayee became the first prime minister since Indira Gandhi to “lead his party to victory in successive elections”. He was the only MP “elected from four different states at different times – Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi”
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