PM,Advani greet Atal on birthday

Former Prime Minister and BJP patriarch Atal Bihari Vajpayee,who turned 86 on Friday,spent a quiet birthday.....

Former Prime Minister and BJP patriarch Atal Bihari Vajpayee,who turned 86 on Friday,spent a quiet birthday. Several leaders,including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and BJP Parliamentary Party chairman L K Advani,were among those who visited Vajpayees Krishna Menon Marg residence here to greet the BJP veteran who has not been keeping well for some time.

BJP chief Nitin Gadkari,his predecessor Rajnath Singh,Leaders of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley,respectively and Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa were among those who greeted Vajpayee and wished him a speedy recovery. Former Union minister and Rajya Sabha MP Arun Shourie was the first senior leader to reach Vajpayees residence.

Former Union minister Shanta Kumar,who was among those to greet Vajpayee,said the former PM was moved to tears when he heard the tragic tale of Ruchika Girhotras molestation case. The case,incidentally,pertains to the era when there was an NDA government at the Centre. After hearing the episode from me,tears rolled down Vajpayees face, he said.

A bhajan sandhya was organised by a forum headed by Vijay Goel (who organises the function every year on December 25) in the evening where the entire BJP brass including Advani,Gadkari,Rajnath Singh,Jaitley,Swaraj and Ananth Kumar and non-BJP leaders,including Amar Singh,Manohar Joshi,Om Prakash Chautala and Independent MP Digvijay Singh,were present. Vajpayees son-in-law Ranjan Bhattacharya was also present on the occasion.