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Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee
 1980
- 1986
Shri
Vajpayee was Prime Minister of India from May
16-31, 1996 and a second time from March 19, 1998
to May 13, 2004. With his swearing-in as Prime
Minister, he has been the only Prime Minister
since Jawaharlal Nehru to occupy the office of
the Prime Minister of India through three successive
mandates. Shri Vajpayee has also been the first
Prime Minister since Smt. Indira Gandhi to lead
his party to victory in successive elections.
Born
on December 25, 1924 at Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh
to Shri Krishna Bihari Vajpayee and Smt. Krishna
Devi, Shri Vajpayee brings with him a long parliamentary
experience spanning over four decades. He has
been a Member of Parliament since 1957. He was
elected to the 5th, 6th and 7th Lok Sabha and
again to the 10th, 11th 12th and 13th Lok Sabha
and to Rajya Sabha in 1962 and 1986. He has again
been elected to Parliament from Lucknow in Uttar
Pradesh for the fifth time consecutively. He is
the only parliamentarian elected from four different
States at different times namely - UP, Gujarat,
MP and Delhi.
Elected leader of the National Democratic Alliance,
which is a pre-election coming together of political
parties from different regions of the country
and which enjoyed a comfortable backing and support
of the elected Members of the 13th Lok Sabha,
Shri Vajpayee was earlier elected leader of his
own Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) parliamentary
party which has also again emerged as the single
largest party in the 13th Lok Sabha as was the
case in the 12th Lok Sabha.
Educated at Victoria (now Laxmi Bai) College,
Gwalior and DAV College, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh,
Shri Vajpayee holds an M.A (Political Science)
degree and has many literary, artistic and scientific
accomplishments to his credit. He edited Rashtradharma
(a Hindi monthly), Panchjanya (a Hindi weekly)
and the dailies Swadesh and Veer Arjun. His published
works include "Meri Sansadiya Yatra"
(in four volumes), "Meri Ikkyavan Kavitayen",
"Sankalp Kaal", "Shakti-se-Shanti",
"Four Decades in Parliament" (speeches
in three volumes), 1957-95, "Lok Sabha mein
Atalji" (a collection of speeches); Mrityu
Ya Hatya", "Amar Balidan", "Kaidi
Kaviraj Ki Kundalian" (a collection of poems
written in jail during Emergency); "New Dimensions
of India's Foreign Policy" (a collection
of speeches delivered as External Affairs Minister
during 1977-79); "Jan Sangh Aur Mussalman";
"Sansad Mein Teen Dashak" (Hindi) (speeches
in Parliament - 1957-1992 - three volumes; and
"Amar Aag Hai" (a collection of poems)
1994.
Shri Vajpayee has participated in various social
and cultural activities. He has been a Member
of the National Integration Council since 1961.
Some of his other associations include - (i) President,
All India Station Masters and Assistant Station
Masters Association (1965-70); (ii) Pandit Deendayal
Upadhyay Smarak Samiti (1968-84); (iii) Deen Dayal
Dham, Farah, Mathura, U.P; and (iv) Janmabhomi
Smarak Samiti, 1969 onwards.
Founder-member of the erstwhile Jana Sangh (1951),
President, Bharatiya Jana Sangh (1968-1973), leader
of the Jana Sangh parliamentary party (1955-1977)
and a founder-member of the Janata Party (1977-1980),
Shri Vajpayee was President, BJP (1980-1986) and
the leader of BJP parliamentary party during 1980-1984,
1986 and 1993-1996. He was Leader of the Opposition
throughout the term of the 11th Lok Sabha. Earlier,
he was India's External Affairs Minister in the
Morarji Desai Government from March 24, 1977 to
July 28, 1979.
Widely respected within the country and abroad
as a statesman of the genre of Pt. Jawaharlal
Nehru, Shri Vajpayee's 1998-99 stint as Prime
Minister has been characterised as 'one year of
courage of conviction'. It was during this period
that India entered a select group of nations following
a series of successful nuclear tests at Pokharan
in May 1998. The bus journey to Pakistan in February
1999 was widely acclaimed for starting a new era
of negotiations to resolve the outstanding problems
of the sub-continent. India's honesty made an
impact on the world community. Later, when this
gesture of friendship turned out to be a betrayal
of faith in Kargil, Shri Vajpayee was also hailed
for his successful handling of the situation in
repulsing back the intruders from the Indian soil.
It was during Shri Vajpayee's 1998-99 tenure that
despite a global recession, India achieved 5.8
per cent GDP growth, which was higher than the
previous year. Higher agricultural production
and increase in foreign exchange reserves during
this period were indicative of a forward-looking
economy responding to the needs of the people.
"We must grow faster. We simply have no other
alternative" has been Shri Vajpayee's slogan
focussing particularly on economic empowerment
of the rural poor. The bold decisions taken by
his Government for strengthening rural economy,
building a strong infrastructure and revitalising
the human development programmes, fully demonstrated
his Government's commitment to a strong and self-reliant
nation to meet the challenges of the next millennium
to make India an economic power in the 21st century.
Speaking from the ramparts of the Red Fort on
the occasion of 52nd Independence Day, he had
said, "I have a vision of India : an India
free of hunger and fear, an India free of illiteracy
and want."
Shri Vajpayee has served on a number of important
Committees of Parliament. He was Chairman, Committee
on Government Assurances (1966-67); Chairman,
Public Accounts Committee (1967-70); Member, General
Purposes Committee (1986); Member, House Committee
and Member, Business Advisory Committee, Rajya
Sabha (1988-90); Chairman, Committee on Petitions,
Rajya Sabha (1990-91); Chairman, Public Accounts
Committee, Lok Sabha (1991-93); Chairman, Standing
Committee on External Affairs (1993-96).
Shri Vajpayee participated in the freedom struggle
and went to jail in 1942. He was detained during
Emergency in 1975-77.
Widely travelled, Shri Vajpayee has been taking
a keen interest in international affairs, upliftment
of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, women
and child welfare. Some of his travels abroad
include visits such as - Member, Parliamentary
Goodwill Mission to East Africa, 1965; Parliamentary
Delegation to Australia, 1967; European Parliament,
1983; Canada, 1987; Indian delegation to Commonwealth
Parliamentary Association meetings held in Canada,
1966 and 1994, Zambia, 1980, Isle of Man 1984,
Indian delegation to Inter-Parliamentary Union
Conference, Japan, 1974; Sri Lanka, 1975; Switzerland,
1984; Indian Delegation to the UN General Assembly,
1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993 and 1994; Leader,
Indian Delegation to the Human Rights Commission
Conference, Geneva, 1993.
Shri Vajpayee was conferred Padma Vibhushan in
1992 in recognition of his services to the nation.
He was also conferred the Lokmanya Tilak Puruskar
and the Bharat Ratna Pt. Govind Ballabh Pant Award
for the Best Parliamentarian, both in 1994. Earlier,
the Kanpur University honoured him with an Honorary
Doctorate of Philosophy in 1993.
Well known and respected for his love for poetry
and as an eloquent speaker, Shri Vajpayee is known
to be a voracious reader. He is fond of Indian
music and dance.
| Father's
Name |
Shri
Krishna Bihari Vajpayee |
| Date
of Birth |
25
December 1924 |
| Place
of Birth |
Gwalior
(Madhya Pradesh) |
| Marital
Status |
Unmarried |
| Educational
Qualifications |
M.A.
(Political Science) Educated at Victoria
(now Laxmibai) College, Gwalior (Madhya
Pradesh) and D.A.V. College, Kanpur (Uttar
Pradesh) |
| Profession |
Journalist
and Social Worker |
| Permanent
Address |
A-302,
Laplaz, Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh)
Tel. (0522) 220909 |
| Present
Address |
6-A,
Krishna Menon Marg, New Delhi-110011 |
|
Positions
Held |
| 1951 |
Founder-Member,
Bharatiya Jana Sangh (B.J.S) |
| 1957 |
Elected
to 2nd Lok Sabha |
| 1957-77 |
Leader,
Bharatiya Jana Sangh Parliamentary Party |
| 1962 |
Member,
Rajya Sabha |
| 1966-67 |
Chairman,
Committee on Government Assurances |
| 1967 |
Re-elected
to 4th Lok Sabha (2nd term) |
| 1967-70 |
Chairman,
Public Accounts Committee |
| 1968-73 |
President,
B.J.S. |
| 1971 |
Re-elected
to 5th Lok Sabha (3rd term) |
| 1977 |
Re-elected
to 6th Lok Sabha (4th term) |
| 1977-79 |
Union
Cabinet Minister, External Affairs |
| 1977-80 |
Founder-
Member, Janata Party |
| 1980 |
Re-elected
to 7th Lok Sabha (5th term) |
| 1980-86 |
President,
Bharatiya Janata Party (B.J.P.) |
| 1980-84,
1986 and 1993-96 |
Leader,
B.J.P. Parliamentary Party
|
| 1986 |
Member,
Rajya Sabha
Member, General Purposes Committee |
| 1988-90 |
Member,
House Committee
Member, Business Advisory Committee |
| 1990-91 |
Chairman,
Committee on Petitions |
| 1991 |
Re-elected
to 10th Lok Sabha (6th term) |
| 1991-93 |
Chairman,
Public Accounts Committee |
| 1993-96 |
Chairman,
Committee on External Affairs
Leader of Opposition, Lok Sabha |
| 1996 |
Re-elected
to 11th Lok Sabha (7th term) |
|
16
May 1996 -31 May 1996
|
Prime
Minister of India; Minister
of External Affairs
and also incharge of Ministries/Departments
of Chemicals and Fertilizers,
Civil Supplies, Consumer Affairs and Public
Distribution, Coal, Commerce, Communications,
Environment and Forests, Food Processing
Industries, Human Resource Development,
Labour, Mines, Non-Conventional
Energy Sources, Personnel,
Public Grievances and Pension, Petroleum
and Natural Gas, Planning
and Programme Implementation,
Power, Railways, Rural Areas
and Employment, Science and Technology,
Steel, Surface Transport,
Textiles, Water Resources,Atomic Energy,
Electronics, Jammu & Kashmir Affairs,
Ocean Development, Space and other subjects
not allocated to any other Cabinet Minister |
| 1996-97 |
Leader
of Opposition, Lok Sabha |
| 1997-98 |
Chairman,
Committee on External Affairs |
| 1998 |
Re-elected
to 12th Lok Sabha (8th term) |
| 1998-99 |
Prime
Minister of India; Minister
of External Affairs; and also
incharge of Ministries/Department
not specifically allocated to the charge
of any Minister |
| 1999 |
Re-elected
to 13th Lok Sabha (9th term) |
| 13
Oct.1999 to 13 May 2004 |
Prime
Minister of India and also in charge ofthe
Ministries/Departments not
specifically allocated to the charge of
any Minister |
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