Atal Bihari Vajpayee (Hindustani pronunciation: [əʈəl bɪhaːɾiː ʋaːdʒpai]; 25 December 1924 – 16 August 2018 ) was an Indian politician, statesman and a poet who served three terms as the Prime Minister of India, first for a term of 13 days in 1996, then for a period of 13 months from 1998 to 1999, and finally, for a full term from 1999 to 2004. A member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), he was the first Indian prime minister who was not a member of the Indian National Congress party to have served a full five-year term in office.