President Murmu pays tributes to Vajpayee on 5th death anniversary

New Delhi, Aug 16: President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday paid floral tributes to Atal Bihari Vajpayee on his fifth death anniversary at the ‘Sadaiv Atal’ memorial in Delhi.

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar, Home Minister Amit Shah, and Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, too, laid floral tributes at the memorial of the saffron stalwart, who was conferred with the country’s highest civilian honour, Bharat Ratna.

Significantly, the BJP, for the first time, invited fellow partners in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to the event to pay tributes to the former Prime Minister at the Sadaiv Atal Memorial.

Among the partner leaders of the NDA at the event were former Bihar chief minister Jeetan Ram Manjhi, Tamil Manila Congress leader GK Vasan, AIADMK’s Thambi Durai, Apna Dal leader Anupriya Patel, NCP leaders Praful Patel and Agatha Sangama, among others.

Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla and Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh, from the Nitish Kumar-led JDU, also paid floral tributes to the former PM on his death anniversary. Also, significantly, Vajpayee’s foster daughter Namita Kaul Bhattacharya also laid floral tributes at the memorial of the departed leader.

To further shore up and strengthen the NDA, with an eye on next year’s Lok Sabha elections, the BJP has been holding political events, be it the meeting of the partners in the ruling alliance at the Centre earlier this year or the one to mark the 25th of the NDA government. The meetings are aimed at fostering unity among the NDA partners and cultivating a positive working relationship.