Former Prime Minister and Bharat Ratna awardee Atal Bihari Vajpayee passed away at 93 on Thursday at AIIMS Delhi where he was being treated since last nine weeks.
Alarm bells rang when Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee became critical and had been put on life support system after his health deteriorated on August 15.
According to the press release by All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on Thursday evening, “It is with profound grief that we inform about the sad demise of Former Prime Minister of India, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee at 05:05 pm on 16.08.2018.
Shri Vajpayee was admitted in AIIMS on 11.06.2018 and was stable in the last 9 weeks under the care of a team of AIIMS doctors.
Unfortunately, his condition deteriorated over the last 36 hours and he was put on life support systems. Despite the best of efforts, we have lost him today.
We join the Nation in deeply mourning this great loss.”
Atal Bihari Vajpayee, being a diabetic had only one functional kidney. He suffered a stroke in 2009, weakening his cognitive abilities. Later, he developed dementia.
He was elected as Prime Minister thrice during 1996, 1996-1999 and during 1999-2004 — when he completed the full five-year term as a non-Congress Prime Minister. As his health deteriorated, he slowly withdrew himself from public life and was confined to his residence for years.
Mourning the loss of Vajpayee, PM Narendra Modi tweeted, “India grieves the demise of our beloved Atal Ji. His passing away marks the end of an era. He lived for the nation and served it assiduously for decades. My thoughts are with his family, BJP Karyakartas and millions of admirers in this hour of sadness. Om Shanti.”
President Ram Nath Kovind expressing his condolences, said, “Extremely sad to hear of the passing of Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, our former Prime Minister and a true Indian statesman. His leadership, foresight, maturity and eloquence put him in a league of his own. Atalji, the Gentle Giant, will be missed by one and all.”
