Amarinder Singh pays tribute at Vajpayee's Delhi residence

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh today visited former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's residence in the national capital and paid respect to the departed soul.

According to an official release here, the chief minister spent about half an hour at the house and met Vajpayee's foster daughter Namita Kaul Bhattacharya, son-in-law Ranjan Bhattacharya and other family members, to condole the death of the poet-politician.

Former prime minister Vajpayee, one of India's most charismatic leaders who led the nation through several crises and held together a tenuous coalition with his inclusive politics, died here on August 16. He was 93.

His death was announced by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) hospital, where he was admitted on June 11 with a variety of ailments.

In the visitor's book, Amarinder Singh wrote about his feelings for Vajpayee, whom he remembered meeting for the first time in 1970, the release said.

The chief minister remembered the former prime minister as a great leader, an excellent statesman, a dignified politician and a fine human being.

His death had left a vacuum that would be hard to fill, the chief minister said.

Vajpayee's mortal remains were consigned to the flames at the Rashtriya Smriti Sthal on the banks of the Yamuna in Delhi yesterday.