President, others greet Vajpayee on 84th birthday

President Pratibha Patil and others greet former prime minister and senior BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee on his 84th birthday.

President Pratibha Patil led others to greet former prime minister and senior BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee on his 84th birthday on Tuesday.

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Prime minister Manmohan Singh also called on Vajpayee to wish him.

Vajpayee has virtually retired from active politics, especially after his deputy Lal Krishna Advani was declared the BJP prime ministerial candidate on December 10.

Advani and BJP president Rajnath Singh greeted Vajpayee before taking a chartered flight to Gandhinagar to attend Narendra Modi's oath taking ceremony as Gujarat chief minister.

They will return to Delhi by evening to attend a dance drama, "Mahabharata: Paaso ka khel", penned by Vajpayee, which is being staged in Ficci auditorium in New Delhi. Vajpayee is expected to be present.

The gates of Vajpayee's residence were thrown open to the public in the morning for people to walk in and wish him.