A look at Atal Bihari Vajpayee's political career

New Delhi: India lost a statesman and former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee after prolonged illness on Thursday. He remain active politically for almost six decades and went through several ups and downs.

We take a look back at his political career and the important positions he held throughout his public life. The oratorial skills and statesmanship of Vajpayee earned him respect from all quarters of Indian politics and he rose to prominence as a political leader. Born on December 25, 1924, his political career started with his association with the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS) in 1951.

Here is the chronological order of his career:

1951: In the year 1951 when the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS) was formed, Vajpayee joined the party after he was asked by Deendayal Upadhyaya to work for the party. Soon after joining he was appointed as a national secretary of the party.

1957-77: Leader, Bharatiya Jana Sangh Parliamentary Party

1966-67: Chairman, Committee on Government Assurances

1967-70: Chairman, Public Accounts Committee

1968-73: After the demise of Upadhyaya, Vajpayee became the national president of the party. Vajpayee along with Nanaji Deshmukh, Balraj Madhok and LK Advani took the party forward and it rose to national prominence.

1977: After the party's victory in the 1977 general elections, Vajpayee became the Minister of External Affairs in the cabinet of Prime Minister Morarji Desai. Unfortunately, the party was dissolved soon after Morarji Desai resigned from the post of the prime minister in 1979. 

1980-1986: This year saw the birth of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which had Vajpayee, LK Advani and Bhairon Singh Shekhawat. Vajpayee became the party's first president. 

1996: The BJP won the parliamentary elections this year and Vajpayee became the prime minister. He served as the prime minister between 1996 and 2004 in three non-consecutive terms -- the first term (1996), second term (1998–1999) and third term (1999–2004).

1996 first term: After the 1996 general elections, the then president Shankar Dayal Sharma asked Vajpayee to form the government. He was sworn in as the 10th prime minister. However, after the BJP failed to gather support from other parties to obtain a majority he had to resign after 13 days.

1998 second term: After a fall of the two United Front governments between 1996 and 1998, the Lok Sabha was dissolved and elections were held. The elections again saw the BJP ahead. A cohesive bloc of parties joined the BJP to form the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Vajpayee was again sworn in as the prime minister. 

The government was in power till 13 months, when in mid-1999 the AIADMK withdrew its support to the government. The government lost the ensuing vote of confidence motion in the Lok Sabha and the Opposition was unable to come up with the numbers to form a new government. The Lok Sabha was again dissolved and elections were held. Vajpayee remained the prime minister until the elections were held.

1999 third term: This year, the BJP-led NDA won 303 seats out of the 543 seats in the Lok Sabha. On October 13, 1999, Vajpayee took oath as the prime minister for the third time.

2004: As the BJP prepared for the elections, Vajpayee was still the choice for the prime minister. Vajpayee had resigned but promised co-operation to the new government. He also decided not to take up the position of the Leader of the Opposition and passed on the leadership to LK Advani. However, he remained the Chairman of the NDA.

2005: Vajpayee announced his retirement from active politics.

He became the first and only person since Jawaharlal Nehru to occupy the office of the prime minister through three successive Lok Sabhas.