Atal Bihari Vajpayee Age, Biography, Wife & More

Bio
Real Name	Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Nickname	Atal jee
Profession	Indian Statesman
Party	Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
Physical Stats & More
Height (approx.)	in centimeters- 168 cm in meters- 1.68 m in Feet Inches- 5’ 6”
Weight (approx.)	in Kilograms- 76 kg in Pounds- 168 lbs
Eye Colour	Black
Hair Colour	White
Personal Life
Date of Birth	25 December 2024
Age (as in 2016)	93 Years
Birth Place	Gwalior State, British India
Zodiac sign/Sun sign	Capricorn
Nationality	Indian
Hometown	Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India
School	Government Higher secondary school, Gorkhi, Bara, Gwalior
College	Victoria College (now Laxmi Bai College), Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India Dayanand Anglo-Vedic (DAV) College, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India
Educational Qualifications	Graduation with distinction in Hindi, English and Sanskrit from Gwalior's Victoria College (now Laxmi Bai College) M.A. in Political Science from Dayanand Anglo-Vedic College, Kanpur
Debut	In August 1942, when he participated in the Quit India Movement.
Political Journey	• In August 1942, he participated in the Quit India Movement. • In 1951, he joined Bharatiya Jana Sangh (a newly formed Hindu right-wing political party) and was appointed its National Secretary of the northern region. • In 1957, he contested Lok Sabha election from Mathura in Uttar Pradesh and lost to Raja Mahendra Pratap. • In 1957, he was elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time from Balrampur in Uttar Pradesh. • In 1968, he became the National President of Jana Sangh. • From 1975 to 1977, he was arrested along with other leaders during the Internal Emergency imposed by the then Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi. • In 1977, he became the External Affairs Minister in Morarji Desai's Cabinet. • In 1980, he formed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) along with his colleagues and became its first National President. • On 16 May 1996, he became the 10th Prime Minister of India. • From 19 March 2024 to 22 May 2004, he again served as the Prime Minister of India.
Awards/Achievement	• Awarded with Padma Vibhushan in 1992. • Given Best Parliamentarian Award in 1994. • Awarded with Bharat Ratna in 2015.
Family	Father- Krishna Bihari Vajpayee (poet and school master) Mother- Krishna Devi Brothers- Avadh Bihari Vajpayee, Prem Bihari Vajpayee, Suda Bihari Vajpayee Sisters- Urmila Mishra, Vimala Mishra, Kamala Devi
Religion	Hinduism
Address	6-A, Krishna Menon Marg, New Delhi – 110011
Hobbies	Doing Poetry, Cooking, Listening to Indian Music, Reading, Travelling
Controversies	He was criticized to incite the public for the demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh.
Favourite Things
Favourite Politician	Shyama Prasad Mookerjee
Favourite Leaders	Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (Mahatma Gandhi), Jawaharlal Nehru
Favourite Authors	Sharat Chandra and Prem Chand
Favourite Poets	Harivansh Rai Bachchan, Ramnath Awasthi, Dr. Shiv Mangal Singh Suman, Surya Kanth Tripathi 'Nirala', Bal Krishna Sharma Naveen, Jagannath Prasad Milind and Faiz Ahmed Faiz
Favourite Classical Artists	Bhim Sen Joshi, Amjad Ali Khan and Hari Prasad Chaurasia
Favourite Playback Singers	Lata Mangeshkar, Mukesh and S.D. Burman
Favourite Musician	Sachin Dev Burman
Favourite Actors	Sanjeev Kumar, Dilip Kumar, Suchitra Sen, Rakhee and Nutan
Favourite Songs	"O mere majhi'', "sun mere bandhu re" by S.D. Burman and "Kabhi, Kabhi mere dil mein'' by Mukesh and Lata
Favourite Films	Bollywood- Devdas (1955), Bandini, Teesri Kasam, Mausam (1975), Mamta and Aandhi Hollywood- Bridge Over the River Kwai, Born Free and Gandhi
Favourite Destination	Manali
Favourite Food	Chinese cuisines, Prawns, Mungode, Gajar Ka Halwa, Alwar milk cake, Khichdi, Poori-Kachori, Dahi-Pakori, Pantha, Kheer, Malpua, Kachauri and Mangouri
Girls, Affairs and More
Marital Status	Unmarried
Affairs/Girlfriends	Not Known
Wife	N/A
Children	Son- N/A Daughter- Namita Bhattacharya (Foster)
Money Factor
Salary	Not Known
Net Worth (approx.)	$2 Million

Some Lesser Known Facts About Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Did Atal Bihari Vajpayee smoke?: Yes

Did Atal Bihari Vajpayee drink alcohol?: Yes

He was born on the day of Christmas in the Gwalior State of British India.

His ancestral village is- Bateshwar in the Agra district of Uttar Pradesh and his grandfather, Pandit Shyam Lal Vajpayee, had migrated to Morena in Madhya Pradesh from Bateshwar.

He was awarded a 1st class Post Graduate degree in Political Science from DAV College in Kanpur.

He started his activism with the Arya Kumar Sabha of Gwalior.

Having influenced by Babasaheb Apte, he joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in 1939 and became its full-time worker (technically a Pracharak) in 1947.

Before joining the RSS, Atal was influenced with the concept of communism.

He shared the hostel with his father at the DAV College, Kanpur while studying Law.

He had to give up his Law studies due to the partition riots.

He was sent to Uttar Pradesh as a Vistarak (Probationary Pracharak) and started working for Deendayal Upadhyaya‘s newspapers- Panchjanya (a Hindi weekly), Rashtradharma (a Hindi monthly) and the dailies Veer Arjun & Swadesh.

In 1942, he was arrested for 23 days along with his elder brother Prem for participating in Quit India Movement and was released on the condition (in written) that he would never participate in any anti-British struggle.

He became an ardent follower and aid to Shyama Prasad Mukherjee (founder of Bhartiya Jana Sangh and in 1953, he went on a fast-unto-death along with Shyama Prasad Mukherjee in Kashmir to protest against the procedure of carrying a permit to visit Kashmir. Mukherjee died during the protest which shattered the young Vajpayee.

In 1957, Atal was elected to Lok Sabha in the 2nd General Elections for the first time from the Balrampur constituency in Uttar Pradesh.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee is known for his orations world over and in 1957, in his maiden speech in the Lok Sabha, he earned laurels from many veteran parliamentarians including the then Prime Minister of India- Jawaharlal Nehru who predicted about him- One day this young man would become the Prime Minister of India.

In 1977, 30 years of Congress rule was ended and a new government was formed at the center. In this new government, Atal Bihari became the External Affairs Minister and in April 1977, when he entered his office in the South Block, he found the portrait of Jawaharlal Nehru was missing and then he said to the staff present there- I want it back.

In 1977, Atal Bihari Vajpayee became the first person to address the United Nations in Hindi.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee has been considered as one of the most successful External Affairs Ministers of India and during his tenure as the External Affairs Minister, he achieved a number of accolades and did some important negotiations. The then US President- Jimmy Carter also made a visit to India in 1978 when Atal Bihari was the External Affairs Minister of India.

On 16 May 1996, he became the 10th Prime Minister of India and that too for only 13 days, then for 13 months in 1998 and again for a full 5-year term in 1999. He is the only non-Congress Prime Minister of India to have served the government for a full 5-year term.

On 13 May 1998, he put India in the league of the World’s elite nuclear club after the successful nuclear test in Pokhran, Rajasthan named- Operation Shakti.

On 19 February 1999, he took a bus journey to Lahore in Pakistan in order to build strong relations with Pakistan.

In 2001, he underwent a knee-replacement surgery at the Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai and in 2009, he suffered a stroke which impaired his speech.