Vajpayee turns 93, political leaders wish him

New Delhi: India's 10th Prime Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) veteran Atal Bihari Vajpayee turned 93 on Monday. Though the statesman is away from the limelight for many years now due to his old age, the Bharat Ratna recipient was visited by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and other leaders at his residence here and the social media also poured with birthday wishes for him.

"Birthday greetings to our beloved Atal Ji. His phenomenal as well as visionary leadership made India more developed and further raised our prestige at the world stage. I pray for his good health. Visited Atal Ji to convey birthday greetings to him. Spent time with his family as well," PM Modi tweeted.

President Ram Nath Kovind also tweeted, "Birthday wishes to our much-loved and respected former Prime Minister, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee."

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, who also visited Vajpayee's residence, wished him on his birthday tweeting, "Visited Atal ji to convey birthday greetings to him." Naidu also posted a poem in Hindi on Twitter by the former prime minister, also known as a poet— urged people to remain united and not to give up hope in tough times.

Vajpayee was born to Krishna Devi and Krishna Bihari Vajpayee on 25 December, 1924, in the erstwhile royal city Gwalior. He then completed his post-graduation with an MA in Political Science from DAV College, Kanpur, with a first class degree. His activism started with Arya Kumar Sabha of Gwalior, the youth wing of the Arya Samaj, of which he became the general secretary in 1944. He also joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as a swayamsevak in 1939. He also worked in a newspaper Panchjanya (a Hindi weekly) with Deendayal Upadhyaya. Vajpayee's first exposure to politics was in August 1942, when he and his elder brother Prem were arrested for 23 days during the Quit India Movement, when he was released only after giving a written undertaking, expressly declaring not to participate in any of the anti-British struggle.

While the country lauds PM Modi's monumental 'surgical strike' move in the last year, but it should also remember that Vajpayee's three landmark moves to make peace with Pakistan, inspite of grave provocations. That's what made him a most remarkable leader and with obviously India's win in Kargil war during his regime.

The former prime minister had also represented Lucknow in the Lok Sabha five times – 1991, 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2004.

BJP chief Amit Shah also tweeted, "Visited Atal ji's home to wish him on his birthday." Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh greeted his warm wishes over tweeter, "Warm wishes to our beloved leader and guide, Shri Atalji on his birthday today. Atalji is a towering and visionary leader who introduced good governance, development and politics of performance in Indian polity. I pray for his good health and long life."Several other union ministers, including Ravi Shankar Prasad, Arun Jaitley, Smriti Irani and Nirmala Sitharaman, also greeted Vajpayee.

Even the veteran's birthday was being celebrated in different States in different manner. Starting from Uttar Pradesh, where Vajpayee was sent as 'Vistarak' by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and he was elected Lok Sabha member. The Yogi Adityanath government in UP released 93 prisoners from various jails of the state and the state's Principal Secretary (Home) Arvind Kumar mentioned that, "It was decided to set free 93 prisoners convicted in different cases on the 93rd birthday of the former prime minister. These prisoners have completed their tenure in jail but could not be released due to non-payment of fine imposed on them." The state government might also engage NGOs to ensure that the prisoners can walk free.

A biopic titled "Yugpurush Atal" was announced here. The movie is produced by Rajeev Dhamija, Amit Joshi and Ranjeet Sharma under the Spectrum Movies banner, the film has been written by Basant Kumar and will be directed by Mayank P. Srivastava.

The BJP stalwart was the first and till now the only non-Congress leader who completed a full term as prime minister.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik greeted former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on his 93rd birthday. "Warm greetings to former Prime Minister Sri Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji on his birthday. I pray to God for his good health and long life," Patnaik tweeted.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti also wished former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on his 93rd birthday and recalled his efforts to bring peace to the state.

"Warm birthday wishes to Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ji. A visionary leader who called for peace, progress & prosperity in J&K by imbibing the spirit of Insaniyat, Jamhuriyat & Kashmiriyat, Mehbooba said on Twitter.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar also greeted former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on his 93rd birthday.

In his greetings, Kumar said that "I wish a long, healthy and illustrious (Tejaswi) life to Vajpayee jee on his birthday."