West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday paid her tribute to former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on his birth anniversary, describing him as a statesman who rose above partisan politics for the country’s good. The Trinamool Congress supremo, who had shared a cordial relationship with the veteran leader, further said that Vajpayee was missed by everybody “a lot”. “Tribute to Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ji on his birth anniversary. He was a statesman who rose above partisan politics for the country’s good,” Banerjee wrote on Twitter. “We miss him a lot,” she added. Banerjee had held an important portfolio in Vajpayee’s cabinet. Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar has invited Banerjee and other senior ministers of the state government to the Raj Bhavan where he will be unveiling apotrait of Vajpayee at the Throne Room there. There was, however, no communication from the state secretariat confirming Banerjee’s presence at the Raj Bhavan programme, a highly-placed source said. Senior leaders of the state Congress, Left parties and the BJP have also been invited for the programme at the Raj Bhavan. Vajpayee’s birth anniversary is celebrated as Good Governance Day across the country. The veteran BJP leader served three terms as the prime minister – first time for a period of 13 days in 1996, then for 13 months from 1998 to 1999, and a full term from 1999 to 2004. He passed away on August 16 last year at the age of 93.
