Atal Bihari Vajpayee passes away

Atal Bihari Vajpayee (93), the veteran leader, prolific writer and former Prime Minister of India, has passed away in New Delhi on 16th August 2018. Born on 25th December 1924 in Gwalior, he was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1957 and had a long parliamentary experience spanning over four decades. He was elected to the Lok Sabha nine times and two times for the Rajya Sabha. Vajpayee was the Minister of External Affairs (MEA) in the cabinet of Prime Minister Morarji Desai. He served as the PM of India between 1996 and 2004 in three non-consecutive terms viz. May 1996 (for 13 days), 1998–1999 (for 11 months) and 1999–2004. He was awarded the India’s highest civilian honour ‘Bharat Ratna’ in 2015. His birthday is celebrated as the Good Governance Day (GGD) by the Central Government since 2014 to foster awareness among the people of accountability in government.