Atal Bihari Vajpayee (born 25 December 1924 in Gwalior) is an Indian statesman who was the 10th Prime Minister of India, first for 13 days in 1996 and then from 1998 to 2004. A leader of the centre-right Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), he is the only Prime Minister from outside the Indian National Congress party to serve a full five-year term.
A parliamentarian for over four decades, Vajpayee was elected to the Lok Sabha (the lower house of India's Parliament) nine times, and twice to the Rajya Sabha (upper house). He also served as the Member of Parliament for Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, until 2009, when he retired from active politics due to health concerns. Vajpayee was one amongst the founder members of erstwhile Jana Sangh and had been its president also. He was also the Minister of External Affairs in the cabinet of Morarji Desai. When Janata government collapsed, Vajpayee renamed his former party Jana Sangh as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Read more about Atal Bihari Vajpayee: Early Life and Education, Early Political Career, As Prime Minister of India, 2004 General Election, Later Career, Personal Life, and Interests, Awards