Watch: Five Most Memorable Speeches Of Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has passed away following a long illness. Elected prime minister thrice between 1996 and 1999, Vajpayee was the only non-Congress prime minister to complete the full term of five years. At the end of his term in 2004, India's gross domestic product growth was inching towards double digits, inflation was under control and ‘India was shining’.

Vajpayee, a master orator, was known for delivering powerful speeches laced with humour, couplets and straightforwardness.

Here are some of his most memorable speeches:

1) In 1996, Vajpayee quit after a 13-day stint without taking a confidence vote. He told the Parliament that his party would serve as a strong Opposition. Vajpayee promptly resigned, but not before delivering this stirring speech.

2) Vajpayee’s speech in Mumbai at first national convention of the BJP in 1980. “Andhera chatega, sooraj niklega, kamal khilega‘ (The darkness will go, the sun will rise and the lotus will bloom),” he famously said during this address.

3) Vajpayee speaks in Lok Sabha defending his decision to give the go-ahead for the nuclear tests in Pokhran in 1998.

4) Vajpayee speaking at Veer Savarkar Jayanti in 1988.

5) Vajpayee's address to the joint session of the US Congress.