New Delhi: Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who ordered nuclear tests to make India a nuclear weapons power and travelled by bus to Pakistan in a grand diplomatic gesture, died on Thursday, the hospital where he was admitted said in a statement.
A poet-politician, Vajpayee was one of the most popular leaders of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party. He was 93.
But unlike Modi, who critics say is a polarising figure despite his pledge of inclusive development for India's 1.3 billion people, Vajpayee was the moderate face of Hindu nationalism, admired by some political foes.
"It was Atal Ji's exemplary leadership that set the foundations for a strong, prosperous and inclusive India in the 21st century," Modi said in a tweet Thursday, using a Hindi-language honorific.
"Atal Ji's passing away is a personal and irreplaceable loss for me."
India grieves the demise of our beloved Atal Ji.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 16, 2018
His passing away marks the end of an era. He lived for the nation and served it assiduously for decades. My thoughts are with his family, BJP Karyakartas and millions of admirers in this hour of sadness. Om Shanti.
Earlier, Modi lead a procession of Indian leaders to visit Vajpayee at his bedside Thursday after the three-time premier was put on life support.
He was hospitalised more than two months ago with a kidney infection and chest ailment but illness has kept him out of the public eye for years.
Modi, party chief Amit Shah and BJP ministers Sushma Swaraj and Rajnath Singh were among the top figures to visit the stricken Vajpayee on Thursday.
Vajpayee's often conciliatory tone, and poetic jibes directed at opponents, attracted popularity on both sides of the political divide.