Modi pays floral tribute to Vajpayee on death anniversary

Prime Minister Narendra Modi led tributes to former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on his death anniversary on Sunday, placing a floral offering at his memorial ‘Sadaiv Atal’ in Delhi. President Droupadi Murmu, Vice President CP Radhakrishnan, BJP president Nitin Nabin and other senior leaders also attended the prayer meeting, ABP Live reported.

Vajpayee, a Bharat Ratna awardee and founding leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party, served as Prime Minister three times: briefly in 1996, from 1998 to 1999 and from 1999 to 2004. He was the first non-Congress Prime Minister to complete a full five-year term, Deccan Chronicle noted. Known for his oratory, poetry and statesmanship, he passed away in 2018 at the age of 93. Greater Kashmir quoted Modi as calling Vajpayee ‘an extraordinary statesman blessed with remarkable vision’ who dedicated his life to the nation.