Journalism of Courage
Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee passed away in August, 2018, at the age of 93. Today marks the 95th birth anniversary of the BJP stalwart. (Express archive photo)
Vajpayee was born on December 25, 1924 and joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as a teenager in 1939, and became a full-time worker in 1947. (Express archive photo)
Vajpayee retreated from active public life over the last decade following the deterioration of his health and remained restricted to his residence. In pic: Atal Bihari Vajpayee and TN Seshan at a book launch ceremony at Adhyatam Sadhna Kendra, Mehrauli in 1994. (Express archive photo by Sanjay K Sharma)
In 1996, during the 13-day government under the leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Sushma Swaraj took a revolutionary step of live telecasting of Lok Sabha debates as the Union Cabinet minister for Information and Broadcasting. (Express archive photo)
Educated at Victoria College (now Laxmibai College), Gwalior and DAV College, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, Vajpayee holds an M.A (Political Science) degree and has many literary, artistic and scientific accomplishments to his credit. In pic: BJP leaders and his party supporters come out after meeting with then president K R Narayanan at Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi. L to R - A B Vajpayee, Jaswant Sinha, George Fernandes, L K Advani. (Express archive photo by Arvind Yadav)
He edited Rashtradharma (a Hindi monthly), Panchjanya (a Hindi weekly) and the dailies Swadesh and Veer Arjun.
Advani, one of the co-founders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had served as deputy prime minister from 2002 to 2004 under Atal Bihari Vajpayee. (Express Archive Photo)
Jethmalani served as law minister and as minister of Urban Development in the former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s cabinet. In pic: Atal Bihari Vajpayee addressing the National executive meeting in Bombay, on his right is party's Vice President Ram Jethmalani and on his left are KS Hegde, Jagannath Joshi and Sikander Bakht. (Express archive photo)
Vajpayee served as Prime Minister of India for three non-consecutive terms between 1996 and 2004. In pic: Sunder Singh Bhandari, LK Advani, Kailash Joshi and Atal BIhari Vajpayee at the BJP working committee meeting in New Delhi. (Express photo by R.K. Dayal)
PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee with Naval Chief Sushil Kumar, Governor PC Alexander and former Maharashtra CM Narayan Rane at the function of INS Mysore. (Express archive photo by Manoj Patil)
Atal Bihari Vajpayee was conferred the Padma Vibhushan in 1992 in recognition of his services to the nation. He was subsequently awarded the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian award, in 2015. In pic: Vajpayee with Congress MP ND Tiwari after attending an all party meeting at Parliament Annexe in July 1996. (Express photo by Ravi Batra)
