Late PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee adopted his classmate's daughter
New Delhi: Atal Bihari Vajpayee who thrice served as the Prime Minister of India has passed away at the age of 93. He was admitted to the All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here in June with kidney tract infection and chest congestion and was on life support system. He is survived by his adopted daughter and granddaughter.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee had always remained a bachelor and never married. He had an adopted daughter named Namita Bhattacharya who is the daughter of Rajkumari Kaul, Vajpayee’s classmate at Gwalior's Victoria College (now Laxmi Bai College) and his companion of many years. Namita is married to Ranjan Bhattacharya who also served as an Officer on Special Duty, while his father-in-law was the Prime Minister of India. The couple has one daughter Neharika.
The family association between the Kauls and Vajpayee dates back to his Gwalior days. After the death of Brij Narain Kaul, Rajkumari Kaul’s husband, Vajpayee became an integral and inseparable part of his household.
Vajpayee served as the Member of Parliament for Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, until 2009 when he retired from active politics due to health concerns. One of the founding fathers of Bharatiya Jana Sangh, he was also the head of the organisation from 1968 to 1972. Vajpayee formed Bharatiya Janata Party in 1980 when the Janata Party collapsed.
He was the first non-Congress prime minister to serve a full five-year term. The government of India conferred the nation’s highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, on him in 2014. 25 December, his birthday was declared as Good Governance Day by the Narendra Modi government in 2014.
courtesy : timesnownews.com
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Mamata asks TMC nominees not to leave counting centres as EC data shows BJP leading
Kolkata (PTI): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday urged TMC candidates and agents to remain vigilant and not to leave counting centres, alleging that there was a "game plan" by the BJP and the Election Commission to show the saffron party taking a lead in the early trends of counting.
In a video message issued during the counting of votes, the TMC supremo appealed to party workers to stay put and not to lose morale.
"I appeal to everyone that neither TMC candidates nor counting agents should abandon counting centres," she said.
As trends on the Election Commission website indicated the BJP leading in 188 seats against the TMC's 94, Banerjee maintained that her party was still ahead in a significant number of constituencies.
"We are still ahead in 170 seats, but I request everyone not to lose hope," she said, adding that there were "around 70 to 100 seats where we are leading, but they are not sharing the data of those seats".
"A false narrative is being spread," she alleged.
The chief minister accused the Election Commission of "not declaring results or leads" in areas where the TMC was ahead.
"This is a game plan by the EC and the BJP as it (poll panel) is not declaring results or leads in areas where we are leading," she said.
Banerjee also alleged irregularities in the counting process at some locations.
"In several places, counting has been stopped after the first two to three rounds. In Kalyani, we have caught seven machines with severe anomalies," she claimed.
She further alleged that TMC workers were being "harassed with the help of central forces" and that party offices were being "vandalised and forcefully captured".
"With the help of central forces, they are harassing and torturing AITC workers. Our offices have been vandalised," she said, also alleging that voter list revision exercises were "purposefully done to target seats where we were strong".
Seeking to reassure party workers, Banerjee said more rounds of counting were yet to take place and urged them to stay firm.
"Fourteen to eighteen rounds of counting will happen. You will surely emerge victorious. Don't be afraid; fight like tigers," she said.
Her remarks came as counting trends suggested that the BJP was leading in 188 seats and had crossed the halfway mark of 148 in the 294-member assembly, pointing to a potential shift in the state's political landscape.
Counting for 293 constituencies was underway with postal ballots, followed by EVM votes.
Officials cautioned that trends could change as more rounds are counted, and final results would be known later in the day.
জরুরি বার্তা pic.twitter.com/Uc82oihwEL
— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) May 4, 2026
