[world-vedic] Prime Minister Vajpayee - A Profile

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Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee

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>Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee has been sworn-in as the Prime Minister

>of India. The President Shri K.R. Narayanan administered the oath of

>office and secrecy at the Rashtrapati Bhawan on October 13, 1999.

>Shri Vajpayee has assumed the office of the Prime Minister of

>India for the third time.

>

>Earlier, Shri Vajpayee was Prime Minister of India from

>May 16-31, 1996 and a second time from March 19, 1998

>till date. With his swearing-in today as Prime Minister,

>he becomes the only Prime Minister since Jawaharlal Nehru

>to occupy the office of the Prime Minister of India through

>three successive mandates. Shri Vajpayee is also 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 and 12th Lok Sabha and to Rajya

>Sabha in 1962 and 1986. He has again been elected to Parliament

>from Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh for the fourth 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 enjoys 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.

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>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.

>

>

>

>------

>Embassy of India

>Press & Information

>Washington, DC

>http:\\www.indianembassy.org

>

>

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