Profile of
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee has been sworn-in
as the Prime Minister of India. The President
Shri K.R. Narayanan administered the oath of
office and secrecy at the Rashtrapati Bhawan
on October 13, 1999. Shri Vajpayee has as-
sumed the office of the Prime Minister of In-
dia for the third time.

Earlier, Shri Vajpayee was Prime Minister of
India from May 16-31, 1996 and a second
time from March 19, 1998 till date. With his
swearing-in today as Prime Minister, he be-
comes the only Prime Minister since Jawaharlal
Nehru to occupy the office of the Prime Min-
ister of India through three successive man-
dates. Shri Vajpayee is also the first Prime
Minister since Smt. Indira Gandhi to lead his
party to victory in successive elections.

Born on December 25, 1924 at Gwalior, Madhya
Pradesh to Shri Krishna Bihari Vajpayee and
Smt. Krishna Devi, Shri Vajpayee brings with
him a long parliamentary experience span-
ning over four decades. He has been a Mem-
ber of Parliament since 1957. He was elected
to the 5th, 6th and 7th Lok Sabha and again
to the 10th, 11th and 12th Lok Sabha and to
Rajya Sabha in 1962 and 1986. He has again
been elected to Parliament from Lucknow in
Uttar Pradesh for the fourth time consecu-
tively. He is the only parliamentarian elected
from four different States at different times
namely - UP, Gujarat, MP and Delhi.

Elected leader of the National Democratic
Alliance, which is a pre-election coming to-
gether of political parties from different re-
gions of the country and which enjoys a com-
fortable backing and support of the elected
Members of the 13th Lok Sabha, Shri Vajpayee
was earlier elected leader of his own Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) parliamentary party which
has also again emerged as the single largest
party in the 13th Lok Sabha as was the case
in the 12th Lok Sabha.

Educated at Victoria (now Laxmi Bai) College,

6 INDIA NEWS ¢ November 1, 1999

Go gle

Gwalior and DAV College, Kanpur, Uttar Pra-
desh, Shri Vajpayee holds an M.A (Political
Science) degree and has many literary, artis-
tic and scientific accomplishments to his credit.
He edited Rashtradharma (a Hindi monthly), ~
Panchjanya (a Hindi weekly) and the dailies
Swadesh and Veer Arjun. His published works
include “Meri Sansadiya Yatra” (in four vol-
umes), “Meri Ikkyavan Kavitayen”, “Sankalp
Kaal”, “Shakti-se-Shanti”, “Four Decades in
Parliament” (speeches in three volumes), 1957-
95, “Lok Sabha mein Atalji” (a collection of
speeches); Mrityu Ya Hatya”, “Amar Balidan”,
“Kaidi Kaviraj Ki Kundalian” (a collection of
poems written in jail during Emergency);
“New Dimensions of India’s Foreign Policy”
(a collection of speeches delivered as Exter-
nal Affairs Minister during 1977-79); “Jan
Sangh Aur Mussalman”; “Sansad Mein Teen
Dashak” (Hindi) (speeches in Parliament -
1957-1992 - three volumes; and “Amar Aag
Hai” (a collection of poems) 1994.

Shri Vajpayee has participated in various so-
cial and cultural activities. He has been a
Member of the National Integration Council
since 1961. Some of his other associations
include - (i) President, All India Station Masters
and Assistant Station Masters Association
(1965-70); (ii) Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay
Smarak Samiti (1968-84); (iii) Deen Dayal
Dham, Farah, Mathura, U.P; and (iv) Jan-
mabhomi Smarak Samiti, 1969 onwards.

Founder-member of the erstwhile Jana Sangh
(1951), President, Bharatiya Jana Sangh (1968-
1973), leader of the Jana Sangh parliamen-
tary party (1955-1977) and a founder-mem-
ber of the Janata Party (1977-1980), Shri
Vajpayee was President, BJP (1980-1986) and
the leader of BJP parliamentary party during
1980-1984, 1986 and 1993-1996. He was
Leader of the Opposition throughout the term
of the 11th Lok Sabha. Earlier, he was India’s
External Affairs Minister in the Morarji Desai

See PROFILE, Page 7