Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Ram Nath Kovind,Union Home Minister Amit Shah,  Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and other senior leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) on Wednesday (December 25) paid tribute to late former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee at ‘Sadaiv Atal’ memorial on his 95th birth anniversary.

Vajpayee, who was one of the tallest leaders and co-founder of the BJP, died on August 16, 2018 at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) following a prolonged illness. He was 93.

Vajpayee's adopted daughter Namita Kaul Bhattacharya and granddaughter Niharika were also present at ‘Sadaiv Atal’ to pay their tribute. Vajpayee led the National Democratic Alliance government from 1998-2004 and wasthe first BJP leader to become the Prime Minister of India.

Earlier on Wednesday, PM Modi tweeted that Vajpayee willremain in the hearts of Indian citizens. "The citizens of this countrygive their tribute to former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who is intheir hearts, on his birth anniversary," said PM Modi.

PM Modi's tweet includes a montage featuring his speechespraising Vajpayee, who served as the PM of India thrice - for 13 days in 1996,13 months in 1998 and for five years from 1999 till 2004.

Vajpayee was conferred India's highest civilian honour Bharat Ratna by the then President Pranab Mukherjee in 2015. His birthday onDecember 25 is marked as Good Governance Day.

Vajpayee was born on December 25, 1924 in Gwalior, MadhyaPradesh. He joined politics at the age of 18 when Quit India Movement waslaunched in 1942. Between 1957 and 2009, he was elected to Parliament 10 times,and as Minister for External Affairs in the Janata Party government, he showedhis mettle as an orator and administrator par excellence. After becoming primeminister, he had to face several hurdles, but he managed to implement severaldevelopment programmes that strengthened the country's economy.