Prez, PM pay tributes to Atal Bihari Vajpayee on his death anniversary

New Delhi, Aug 16: President Draupadi Murmu, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid floral tributes to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee here at his memorial 'Sadaiv Atal' on his death anniversary on Wednesday.

Several other leaders, including Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, were also present at the memorial during the wreath-laying programme and prayer meeting organised to mark Vajpayee's death anniversary.

The former Prime Minister's daughter Namita Bhattacharya and son-in-law Ranjan Bhattacharya also paid floral tribute to him at the memorial.

Leaders of several NDA constituents, including Praful Patel, M. Thambidurai and Jitan Ram Manjhi, also reached 'Sadaiv Atal' and paid tribute to him. 

Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh also participated in the wreath-laying programme and prayer meeting.

Earlier, Prime Minister Modi in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) wrote: "I join the 140 crore people of India in paying homage to the remarkable Atal Ji on his Punya Tithi. India benefitted greatly from his leadership. He played a pivotal role in boosting our nation's progress and in taking it to the 21st century in a wide range of sectors."