Atal Bihari Vajpayee birth anniversary: Narendra Modi, President Ram Nath Kovind pay tributes to former PM

President Ram Nath Kovind  and Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid floral tributes to late Atal Bihari Vajpayee on his 94th birth anniversary at the Rashtriya Smriti Sthal in New Delhi on Tuesday. [caption id=“attachment_5786901” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Modi and Amit Shah at Smriti Sthal in New Delhi. ANI[/caption] Apart from the two leaders, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu, former prime minister Manmohan Singh, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah, and senior BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani were among others who paid homage to Vajpayee. Earlier today, President Kovind had hailed Vajpayee as a “true Indian statesman”. “Remembering our former Prime Minister and a true Indian statesman, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, on his birth anniversary. Atalji will always live on in the hearts and minds of the people of our country,” the President tweeted. Prime Minister Modi, too, took to the micro-blogging site to reiterate his commitment to fulfill Vajpayee’s dreams. “Tributes to Atal Ji on his Jayanti. We reiterate our commitment towards creating the India he dreamt of,” the Prime Minister tweeted. The veteran leader, who led the National Democratic Alliance government from 1998-2004, was the first ever person from the BJP to have become the Prime Minister. He served as Prime Minister thrice — briefly in 1996, and then twice more, 1998-1999 and a full term between 1999 and 2004. The BJP stalwart passed away on August 16 at the All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) in Delhi following a prolonged illness. 25 December is also celebrated as ‘Good Governance Day’ in honour of Vajpayee.