BJP stalwart Atal Bihari Vajpayee passed away on this day in the year 2018. It has been one year for the death anniversary of BJP stalwart Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Ram Nath Kovind, Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Ministers and several top BJP leaders on Friday paid their tributes at 'Sadaiv Atal', the memorial of the former prime minister in New Delhi.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee had died on August 16, 2018, after a period of prolonged illness. Vajpayee, who joined the Rashtriya Swamsevak Sangha (RSS) in 1947 rose through ranks to become a stalwart of the BJP and was the first non-Congress prime minister to complete a full term in office.

Vajpayee had a pan-India appeal and his flair for foreign policy and initiatives were acknowledged globally. An orator par excellence and known for taking bold initiatives, notable being the attempt to bridge differences in Indo-Pak relations, Vajpayee, who is lauded as a statesman politician, went far beyond his BJP's nationalist political agenda.