The President, PM Modi and others visited Atal Bihari Vajpayee's memorial.
Highlights
- President, PM and others paid tribute to Mr Vajpayee at his memorial
- Amit Shah and JP Nadda too were present
- Mr Vajpayee, three-time PM, died on August 16 last year. He was 93
President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and several top leaders paid tribute to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on his first death anniversary.
The President, PM Modi and many top BJP leaders visited the memorial of the former prime minister in Delhi early this morning.
Mr Vajpayee's adopted daughter Namita Kaul Bhattacharya and granddaughter Niharika were also present at the function. Playback singer Hariharan performed at the event.
Sadaiv Atal, the memorial for the iconic leader, was unveiled on his 94th birth anniversary last December.
Mr Vajpayee died on August 16 last year at Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences after a long illness.
PM Modi had surprised many last year by walking four kilometres with the veteran's funeral procession from the BJP office in Delhi to the Smriti Sthal, which is located close to the memorials of former Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Lal Bahadur Shastri.
He was cremated with state honours and his ashes were immersed in various rivers across the country.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the tenth Prime Minister of India, led the National Democratic Alliance government from 1998 to 2004, was the first ever person from the BJP to have become the country's Prime Minister. He served as Prime Minister thrice - briefly in 1996, and then for two terms between 1998 and 2004.
Mr Vajpayee had retreated from politics over the few years before his death because of his health.
Mr Vajpayee's birthday anniversary, on December 25, is celebrated as ''Good Governance Day'' by the party. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 2014.