Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Atal Bihari Vajpayee (born 25 December 1924) 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 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), he is the first 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 Bharatiya Jana Sangh, which he had also headed. He was also the Minister of External Affairs in the cabinet of Morarji Desai. When Janata government collapsed, Vajpayee restarted the Jana Sangh as the Bharatiya Janata Party in 1980.

On 25 December 2014 the office of President of India announced the Bharat Ratna award, India's highest civilian honour, to Vajpayee. In a special gesture, the President of India conferred Bharat Ratna to Atal Bihari Vajpayee in his residence on 27 March 2015. His birthday, 25 December, was declared "Good Governance Day".

Bajpai or Vajpayee

Bajpai or Vajpayee is a North Indian Brahmin surname, predominant especially in Lucknow. It falls under a category of Brahmins known as Kanyakubjas, a group that also includes Awasthi, Dixits, Tewari, Tiwari, Tripathi, Agnihotri etc. The South Indian surname to that effect is Vajapeyar As per legend, Bengali Brahmins, for instance Chatterjees owe their roots to the Kanyakubja region as well, and thus, are at times classified with them.

People with the Vajpayee or Bajpai surname

Notable individuals with this surname include:

References

Bihari

Bihari may refer to:

People

Bharat Ratna

The Bharat Ratna (Hindi pronunciation: [bʰaːrt̪ rt̪ n]; Jewel of India) is the highest civilian award of the Republic of India. Instituted in 1954, the award is conferred "in recognition of exceptional service/performance of the highest order", without distinction of race, occupation, position, or sex. The award was originally limited to achievements in the arts, literature, science, and public services, but the government expanded the criteria to include "any field of human endeavour" in December 2011. The recommendations for the Bharat Ratna are made by the Prime Minister to the President, with a maximum of three nominees being awarded per year. Recipients receive a Sanad (certificate) signed by the President and a peepal-leaf–shaped medallion; there is no monetary grant associated with the award. Bharat Ratna recipients rank seventh in the Indian order of precedence.

The first recipients of the Bharat Ratna were politician C. Rajagopalachari, philosopher Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, and scientist C. V. Raman, who were honoured in 1954. Since then, the award has been bestowed on 45 individuals, including 12 who were awarded posthumously. The original statutes did not provide for posthumous awards but were amended in January 1955 to permit them. The former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri became the first individual to be honoured posthumously. In 2014, cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, then aged 40, became the youngest recipient; while social reformer Dhondo Keshav Karve was awarded on his 100th birthday. Though usually conferred on Indian citizens, the "Bharat Ratna" has been awarded to one naturalised citizen, Mother Teresa, and to two non-Indians, Pakistan national Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan and former South African President Nelson Mandela. On 24 December 2014, the Indian government announced the award to independence activist Madan Mohan Malaviya (posthumously) and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.