New Delhi, December 25
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, senior BJP leaders and other well-wishers greeted former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who turned 88 today. "The Prime Minister visited Vajpayee at his home and wished him," an official of the Prime Minister's Office said.

BJP workers distribute sweets to poor families on the occasion of the 88th birthday of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, in Bhopal on Sunday. — PTI

A BJP source said: "LK Advani, Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley visited Vajpayee's residence with bouquets and gifts and conveyed their good wishes to him."

They met the veteran leader at his Krishna Menon Marg residence where he moved to after he left the Prime Minister's residence following his electoral defeat in 2004.

According to source, the birthday of Vajpayee - who remains one of India's most popular and charismatic political leaders and whose name continues to be invoked for the party's campaign - is widely celebrated by party workers across the country.

"The party workers have decided to celebrate his birthday as 'Good Governance and Clean Politics Day'. We are also holding a bhajan programme in the evening at Siri Fort auditorium," sources said.

One of the founder leaders of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the BJP's predecessor, Vajpayee has not been keeping well for sometime now and did not contest the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. — IANS