Former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee passes away at 93

Former Indian Prime Minister and senior BJP politician Atal Bihari Vajpayee has passed away at the age of 93 in New Delhi on Thursday.

A statement from the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi said, “It is with profound grief that we inform about the sad demise of Former Prime Minister of India, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee at 05: 05 pm on 19.08.2018."

The 10th Prime Minister of India had been suffering from kidney-related ailments and was admitted to the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi from June 11.

According to a health bulletin released by the hospital on Wednesday, the nonagenarian’s condition was critical.

"Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has been admitted for the last 9 weeks at AIIMS. Unfortunately, his condition has worsened over the past 24 hours. His condition is critical and he is on life support system," read a statement from Dr Aarti Vij, Chairperson of the Media and Protocol Division of the hospital.

Over the past couple of days, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Foreign Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Railways Minister Piyush Goyal, Textiles Minister Smriti Irani, Congress President Rahul Gandhi and other senior parliamentarians and leaders have visited the ailing leader.

The senior BJP leader was the first non-Congress Prime Minister of India to serve a full term. He served as PM for one brief term of 13 days in 1996 and the full five years between 1998 and 2004.