New Delhi, February 12: The lie-size portrait of late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was unveiled in the Central Hall of Parliament by President Ram Nath Kovind on Tuesday.
President Kovind unveils the portrait of late Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee in Central Hall of Parliament; says as a result of Atal ji’s foresight, policies and leadership, India entered 21st century with a new energy and carved a powerful identity in the world pic.twitter.com/uTcfrLGY3O
— President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) February 12, 2019
Paying a rich tribute to the former prime minister, Narendra Modi said talking about the greatness of Atal Bihari Vajpayee would take “hours and hours”.
A tribute to Atal Ji. His portrait has been unveiled at Central Hall. https://t.co/zzBZjZ6kKd
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 12, 2019
“From now, Atal Ji will be forever in the Parliament’s Central Hall, inspiring us and blessing us. Atal Ji had a long political career, a large part of that career was spent in Opposition. Yet, he continued raising issues of public interest and never ever deviated from his ideology,” the Prime Minister said.
PM Modi also described him as a legendary orator. “There was power in Atal Ji‘s speech and there was equal power in Atal Ji‘s silence. His communication skills were unparalleled. He had a great sense of humour,” he said.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee became the Prime Minister for the first time in 1996 for 13 days, then for 13 months from 1998 to 1999, and then from 1999 to 2004. He died on August 16 last year at 93 years after a prolonged illness. PM Modi walked four km with the veteran’s funeral procession in Delhi.
