On the fifth anniversary of Vajpayee’s passing, President Murmu and Prime Minister Modi led tributes, Union Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, and Home Minister Amit Shah were also present along with them, all left floral tributes at the memorial for the saffron veteran who was awarded the Bharat Ratna, the nation’s highest civilian distinction.
Furthermore, the BJP invited members of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to the ceremony to pay respects to the late prime minister at the Sadaiv Atal Memorial.
On the day of the former prime minister’s passing, Om Birla, the speaker of the Lok Sabha, and Harivansh, the deputy chairman of the Nitish Kumar-led Rajya Sabha, also presented floral tributes to him. Significantly, flowers were also left at the late leader’s burial by Namita Kaul Bhattacharya, who was Vajpayee’s foster daughter.
From May 16, 1996, to June 1, 1996, and again from March 19, 1998, to May 22, 2004, Atal Bihari Vajpayee served as prime minister of India. In the administration of Prime Minister Moraji Desai, he also served as India’s Minister of External Affairs from 1977 to 1979. He died at the AIIMS Hospital in Delhi on August 16, 2018.