Assam Governor Prof Jagdish Mukhi condoles Vajpayee's death

Guwahati: Assam Governor Prof. Jagdish Mukhi expressed his condolences at the demise of former Prime Minister and BJP Leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

"The Nation has lost an eminent leader", said Mukhi.

He praised the deceased leader for his bold initiatives related to the Pokhran test, that pioneered India's movement towards becoming a Nuclear Power.

Mukhi further recalled on the former Prime Minister's famous speech in Hindi at the UN Assembly.

His sagacity and leadership at both national and international levels have been a source of inspiration and guidance," the Governor added.

Leader of Opposition of the Assam Assembly Debabrat Saikia said, "lost a stalwart who embodied the best values of parliamentary democracy", expressing his grief at the former PM's death.

Battling age-related illness for around two months, Former Prime Minister and senior BJP Leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee breathed his last today at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi.

As soon as the news broke, the country got been struck by grief. Vajpayee commanded a larger than life image and was respected by both his party members and opponents.

The Former Prime Minister had suffered dementia for a long time following a stroke in 2009.

The AIIMS authorities informed at 5.05 PM about Vajpayee’s demise expressing their grief over the death of the Former Prime Minister.

He was a member of the Indian Parliament for over four decades, being elected to the Lok Sabha, the lower house, ten times, and twice to the Rajya Sabha, the upper house. He was elected MP from Lucknow of Uttar Pradesh until 2009 when he retired from active politics due to health concerns. Vajpayee was among the founding members of the erstwhile Bharatiya Jana Sangh which he also headed from 1968 to 1972. He was the Minister of External Affairs in the cabinet of Prime Minister Morarji Desai.

When the Janata government collapsed, Vajpayee restructured the Jana Sangh into the Bharatiya Janata Party in 1980. He was the first Indian prime minister not belonging to the Indian National Congress to serve a full five-year term.

In 2014, the President of India conferred him with the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian award. The Narendra Modi led government declared the birthday of Vajpayee on 25 December as Good Governance Day.