Top-down politics
The BJP under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership has undergone a significant transformation, reminiscent of the era when Indira Gandhi wielded unparalleled influence within the Congress party.
Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was admitted to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on Monday afternoon. He was admitted for routine check-up on the advice of the doctors.
Vajpayee, who is 93 years old, has been suffering from a series of medical complications for some time. Dr Randeep Guleria, Director of AIIMS, will be supervising Vajpayee’s routine check-up.
Honoured with the Bharat Ratna in 2015, Vajpayee’s health issues began from the time he was the Prime Minister of India. But a stroke in 2009 impaired his speech.
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Hardly seen in public, Vajpayee, who is counted among the tallest leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has been confined to a wheelchair and reportedly has difficulty in recognising people.
A parliamentarian for over four decades, Vajpayee has been elected to the Lok Sabha (the lower house of Parliament of India) ten times, and twice to the Rajya Sabha (upper house).
Vajpayee was elected to Lok Sabha from Lucknow in 1991, 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2004. He is the first and the only non- Congress leader who completed his full term as Prime Minister.
Born in 1924, he entered politics during the Quit India movement in 1942. He was also the first external affairs minister to deliver a speech in the UN Assembly in Hindi.
(With inputs from agencies.)
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