8. Vajpayee served the Lok Sabha, the lower house of parliament, for 10 terms that began in 1957 and concluded in 2009. 9. Vajpayee was the first head of government from outside the Congress party to serve a full five-year term. 10. Vajpayee first became Prime Minister in 1996 after four decades in opposition. He lasted only 13 days as prime minister for lack of numbers. 11. The lack of a stable majority ended his second stint in power from 1998 after 13 months. His government collapsed after AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa withdrew her support from the coalition. 12. Vajpayee was reelected in 1999 at the head of a more stable coalition that lasted its full term. 13. An orator par excellence, Vajpayee had earned much fame as Indias external affairs minister in Prime Minister Morarji Desai government during which tenure he delivered a widely acclaimed speech to the United Nations General Assembly in Hindi. 14. Undeterred by party hawks who accused him of embarking on a misdirected visit to Pakistan in 1999, Vajpayee rode triumphantly into Lahore aboard a bus, on an initiative that was pursued by his successor Manmohan Singh. 15. A bachelor, Vajpayee is also a poet of some repute and he is often quoted by his party.
Posted on: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 09:16:41 +0000
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