Indian Prime Minister from 1998-2004 and Bharat Ratna awardee Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee breathed his last on Thursday at the age of 93. He was admitted in AIIMS, Delhi for health-related complications from past few days and his condition got critical last night (Aug 15).

Despite the best efforts of the doctors at the hospital, his demise was officially announced at 5.05 pm.

Born on December 25, 1924, in Gwalior, Vajpayee co-founded the Bhartiya Jana Sangh and became a member of Lok Sabha from Balrampur. In 1977, Atal Bihari Vajpayee became the Minister of External Affairs in the Janata Party government and became the first person to deliver a speech to the United Nations General Assembly in Hindi.

Vajpayee along with LK Advani and BS Shekhawat formed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 1980. Atal Bihari Vajpayee first became Indian Prime Minister in May 1998 for 13 days. Later he became PM for the second time for 13 months and the nation became a nuclear power after the Pokhran Tests during that period. India also successfully made Pakistan retreat from the LOC in the Kargil War in 1999.

These reasons made BJP come into power in 1999 and Atal Bihari Vajpayee became the PM till 2004. Vajpayee retired from politics in active 2005 due to health problems.

In 2015, Atal Bihari Vajpayee was honored with the highest civilian award of the Bharat Ratna. At 93, he was the oldest living PM of the nation before his demise and Vajpayee was also a famous poet known for his poem “Geet Naya Gata Hoon”.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India tweeted paying tribute to Vajpayee and stated, "The Indian Cricket Team and BCCI condoles the sad demise of former India Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Atalji dedicated his life in service of the nation."

The Indian cricket fraternity took to Twitter as soon as they heard the news of the demise of Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee. They paid rich tributes to one of the giants of Indian politics and a liked person everywhere in the world.

Here are some tweets: