Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the first non-Congress leader to serve a full term in power, died August 16 2018, at AIIMS in New Delhi, where he had been undergoing treatment for a kidney ailment since June. Renowned for his powerful oratory and poetry, Vajpayee, 93, one of the founder members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), served as prime minister for 13 days in 1996, 13 months (1998-99) at the head of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government and then for a full five-year term (1999-2004)
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In the 1942 Quit India Movement, Atal Bihari Vajpayee participated as an 18-year-old, and was arrested and kept in jail for 23 days. (Pictured- Atal Bihari Vajpayee addressing Jan Sangh Session at the Ambedkar Stadium- New Delhi, India March 5, 1975)