 "Atal Bihari Vajpayee gave new direction to India's politics, says Murli Manohar Joshi")
Image courtesy: ANI New Delhi: Senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi said on Saturday that former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee brought people of different faiths together, on the latter's birth anniversary.
"Atal Ji kept 22-23 parties together and established India as a nuclear power. Taking 22 parties together, people of different faiths together, removing all differences he gave a new direction to India`s politics," Joshi is quoted as saying in an ANI report.
Joshi, who was also the former Prime Minister's cabinet colleague, said that Vajpayee believed in democratic values.
On the occasion of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee`s birth anniversary, President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday paid floral tribute at `Sadaiv Atal` Samadhi in the national capital.
PM Modi tweeted, "Remembering Atal Ji on his Jayanti. We are inspired by his rich service to the nation. He devoted his life to making India strong and developed. His development initiatives positively impacted millions of Indians."
Among other senior BJP leaders who paid tributes to Vajpayee, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Union Ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nirmala Sitharaman, Piyush Goyal and others.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee`s birthday is celebrated as the `Good Governance Day`.Vajpayee, who led the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government from 1998-2004, was the first-ever leader from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to have become the nation`s Prime Minister. Vajpayee served as Prime Minister thrice -- briefly in 1996, and then for two terms between 1998 and 2004.
One of the prominent leaders of the country and founder members of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Vajpayee died on August 16, 2018, at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) after a prolonged illness. He was 93.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who was conferred Bharat Ratna in 2015, had also been awarded Pt Govind Ballabh Pant Award for Best Parliamentarian in 1994.
The BJP launched a "special micro-donation campaign" on the birth anniversary of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Saturday, seeking to raise funds through small contributions from its members and others.
Several BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, made donations and urged others to contribute. PM Modi tweeted, "I have donated Rs 1,000 towards the party fund of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Our ideal of always putting Nation First and the culture of lifelong selfless service by our cadre will be further strengthened by your micro-donation. Help make BJP strong. Help make India strong."
Donors can choose from the contribution options of Rs 5, Rs 50, Rs 100, Rs 500 or Rs 1,000.
BJP president J P Nadda said, "Our karyakartas will connect with millions of people through this micro-donation campaign. 'Donation' module in the NaMo App will be the medium through which we will collect these donations. I seek the blessings of people to strengthen the world's largest nationalist movement."
The campaign will continue till February 11, the death anniversary of the party's ideologue Deen Dayal Upadhyay.
(With Agency Inputs)
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