New Delhi:
One of the tallest politicians of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee is also a great poet. The astute politician was honoured with Bharat Ratna Award on December 2014. Notably, he is only the 44th to receive this award.
Read some interesting, some important and some unknown facts about Vajpayee:
1. A law student, Vajpayee attended DAV College Kanpur and lived in an adjoining hostel with his father who also wanted to pursue Law. They attended the same class and lived in same room in hostel.
2. He was the first non-Congress Prime Minister to serve full term of five years in office.
3. Vajpayee was elected as MP in 1957 from Balrampur district. His oratory skills even impressed then prime minister Pandit Jawahar lal Nehru who said, “He will become Prime Minister of India one day.”
4. He was the first Prime Minister to deliver speech in Hindi at United Nation.
5. Atal Bihari Vajpayee had strict orders from his father to not wear Khaki pant of RSS outside as his father would lose his job (he was a government employee) thus his sister used to throw his pants across boundary which he used to wear outside house.
6. He never married but adopted a daughter named Namita.
7. He was once a non-vegetarian .
8. He had been Member of Lok Sabha for 10 times and Member of Rajya Sabha 2 times.
9. He was admired by all. Once Manmohan SIngh called him “Bhishma Pitamah” of Indian Politics in Rajya Sabha.
10. The only election he lost was in 1984 from Gwalior against Madhav Rao Scindia.
11. He also released two albums with Jagjit Singh in 1999 and 2002 featuring his poems. Nayi Disha(1999) and Samvedna (2002).
12. Vajpayee was the only Parliamentarian to be elected from four different state, UP, MP, Gujarat and Delhi.
13. He was the first Prime Minister to run a Coalition Government for the first time in India.
