Atal Bihari Vajpayee (1924-2018) was the only parliamentarian who got elected from four different states - Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Delhi - and was Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha a record 10 times and to the Rajya Sabha twice. He served as India's Prime Minister three times. He made his foray into politics during the pre-independence era when he went to jail for taking part in the Quit India Movement.
· 1924: Born on December 25 in Gwalior
· 1939: Joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as a swayamsevak. He completed his schooling from the Saraswati Shishu Mandir in Gwalior. Thereafter, he completed his graduation from Gwalior's Victoria College. He completed his postgraduation with MA Political Science from DAV College in Kanpur.
· 1942: Participated in freedom struggle and went to jail (Quit India Movement)
· 1951: Founder-member, Bharatiya Jana Sangh
· 1957: Elected to 2nd Lok Sabha (contested from three constituencies - Balrampur, Mathura and Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh; won from Balrampur, finished runner-up in Lucknow and forfeited his deposit in Mathura)
· 1957-77: Leader, Bharatiya Jana Sangh parliamentary party
· 1962: Member, Rajya Sabha
· 1966-67: Chairman, Committee on Government Assurances
· 1967: Re-elected to 4th Lok Sabha (2nd term)
· 1967-70: Chairman, Public Accounts Committee
· 1968-73: Made the national president of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh in 1968 after the death of Deendayal Upadhyaya. Over the next few years, he worked tirelessly with Nanaji Deshmukh, Balraj Madhok and Lal Krishna Advani to make a prominent presence for the Jana Sangh in Indian politics.
· 1971: Re-elected to 5th Lok Sabha (3rd term)
· 1977: Re-elected to 6th Lok Sabha (4th term)
· 1977-79: Union Cabinet Minister, External Affairs (in Prime Minister Morarji Desai's government)
· 1977: Spoke at the 32nd session of United Nations General Assembly in Hindi; it was the first time anyone had given a speech in Hindi at a global forum. He ended his speech with 'Jay Jagat'.
· 1977: Founder-member, Janata Party (Bharatiya Jana Sangh was united with the Bharatiya Lok Dal and the Socialist Party to form the Janata Party which was dissolved following Morarji Desai's resignation as Prime Minister
· 1980: Re-elected to 7th lok sabha (5th term)
· 1980-86: President, Bharatiya Janata Party (Vajpayee along with Lal Krishna Advani and Bhairon Singh Shekhawat formed the Bharatiya Janata Party and became the party's first president.
· 1980-84: Leader, Bharatiya Janata Party parliamentary party
· 1984: Bharatiya Janata Party was reduced to two seats; Vajpayee worked tirelessly to build the party (he was defeated in Gwalior by a margin of close to two lakh votes by Madhavrao Scindia)
· 1986: Member, Rajya Sabha and leader, Bharatiya Janata Party parliamentary party
· 1989: Bharatiya Janata Party won 88 seats under his leadership
· 1988-89: Member, General Purposes Committee
· 1988-90: Member, House Committee and Member, Business Advisory Committee
· 1990-91: Chairman, Committee on Petitions
· 1991: Re-elected to 10th Lok Sabha (6th term); Bharatiya Janata Party emerged as the principal opposition party with 120 seats in its favour in parliamentary elections. He won from Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh and Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh)
· 1991-93: Chairman, Public Accounts Committee
· 1991-93: Chairman, Public Accounts Committee
· 1992: Awarded the Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award for his distinguished contribution in public affairs.
· 1993-96: Chairman, Committee on External Affairs and leader, Bharatiya Janata Party parliamentary party
· 1993: Honorary Doctorate of Philosophy by Kanpur University
· 1993: Leader of Opposition, Lok Sabha
· 1994: Bharat Ratna Pt. Govind Ballabh Pant award for best parliamentarian
· 1995: Declared as the Prime Ministerial candidate of Bharatiya Janata Party at a conference in November at Mumbai
· 1996: Re-elected to 11th Lok Sabha (7th term) (Bharatiya Janata Party emerged the single largest party in Lok Sabha in 1996 general elections; He won from Gandhinagar in Gujarat and Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh)
· 1996: Elected Prime Minister of India for a short period, from May 16 to May31. He was in charge of other subjects not allocated to any other cabinet minister
· 1996-97: Leader of Opposition, Lok Sabha
· 1997-98: Chairman, Committee on External Affairs
· 1998: Re-elected to 12th Lok Sabha (8th term) (Bharatiya Janata Party emerged as the single largest party and formed the National Democratic Alliance with other political parties
· 1998: During his tenure India conducted underground nuclear tests in Pokhran in May, just a month after the government came into power. These tests were regarded a national milestone.
· 1998-99: He was the Prime Minister of India and also Minister of External Affairs. He was also incharge of ministries/departments not specifically allocated to the charge of any minister
· 1999: Inaugurated the Delhi-Lahore bus service on February 19 by travelling in the same to meet his counterpart Nawaz Sharif in Pakistan. This step became an iconic symbol of international diplomacy and he was lauded globally for his pragmatism. The two prime ministers agreed on a historic treaty called the Lahore Declaration, on February 21, 1999
· 1999: Indian Airlines flight IC 814 was hijacked by five terrorists and flown to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan on December 24. The hijackers demanded the release of specific terrorists held in India. The seven-day-long hostage crisis ended after India agreed to release three militants in exchange of the passengers
· 1999: Kargil war took place between India and Pakistan between May and July. By the end of it, the Indian Army and the Air Force had recaptured the areas infiltrated by the Pakistani militants. The Kargil victory cemented the reputation of Vajpayee as a strong and able leader of the nation
· 1999: Re-elected to 13th Lok Sabha (9th term) and leader, Bharatiya Janata Party parliamentary party, Lok Sabha
· 1999-2004: Elected Prime Minister of India, and was also in charge of the ministries/departments not specifically allocated to the charge of any minister
· 2000: Along with US President Bill Clinton, Vajpayee signed a statement on 'US-India relations: A vision for the 21st century' on March 21, while hosting Clinton in New Delhi. The document proposed many new endeavours including a "pledge to reduce impediments to bilateral trade and investment, and to expand commerce between the two nations."
· 2000: Addressed the joint session of the US Congress on September 24 where he stated that his visit to the US had "consolidated relations between the world's two largest democracies and marked a new era in bilateral and global affairs."
· 2000: Underwent knee replacement surgery in October
· 2001: Invited the Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to India with a view to improve Indo-Pak relations. However, this attempt could not achieve much success for India
· 2001: Launched the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan with the aim of universalisation of elementary education
· 2001: Parliament was attacked in December by Pakistan trained terrorists. Investigations pointed to a conspiracy hatched in Pakistan and for a long time the threat of a full-fledged war between the two nations loomed.
· 2002: Inaugurated the red line of the metro from Shahdara to Tis Hazari on December 24
· 2003: Approved ISRO's proposal of the first Indian moon mission, named Chandrayaan-1 in November
· 2004: Re-elected to 14th Lok Sabha (10th term) (Lucknow) and Chairman, Bharatiya JanataParty and National Democratic Party parliamentary party
· 2005: Announced his retirement from politics on December 29
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