Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was on Friday conferred with Bharat Ratna, the country’s highest civilian award, by President Pranab Mukherjee.By violating the protocol Mukherjee drove to Vajpayee’s residence at Krishna Memon marg in Lutyens’ Delhi and presented to the ailing BJP leader the prestigious award.
The event was attended by Vice President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh along with some close family members.
The event was kept away from the media glare.
Vajpayee, who was Prime Minister from 1998 to 2004, and has faded from public life due to age-related illness.A parliamentarian for over four decades, Vajpayee was elected to the Lok Sabha nine times, and twice to the Rajya Sabha .He also served as the Member of Parliament for Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, until 2009, when he retired from active politics due to health concerns.Vajpayee was one amongst the founder members of erstwhile Bharatiya Jana Sangh, which he had also headed.
