Atal Bihari Vajpayee (1924-2018) had been imbued with a nationalistic sprit from his childhood. He took part in the Quit India Movement and was imprisoned. He obtained his M.A. degree in Political Science from DAV College, Kanpur. He began his career as Editor of Hindi Rashtra Dharma, weekly Panchjanya, later daily Veer Arjun and Swadesh. Founder-member of Bharatiya Jana Sangh he was its President in 1966-67. After incarceration in Emergency (1975-77) he was co-founder of the Janata Party and was its President during 1980-86. He had been a Member of Parliament almost uninterruptedly since 1957. He was Leader of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh and BJP Parliamentary Parties during 1957-77, 1980-84 and 1986-91.
