Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the first non-Congress Prime Minister of India to serve a full term. Before the complete term between 1999 and 2004, Vajpayee had two brief terms as premier in 1996 and 1998.
While the former Prime Minister breathed his last on Thursday, here's a look back at his three terms:
1996 elections
P V Narasimha Rao was the PM before this election and was accused of several scandals and mishandling of the government. There were also internal disputes in Congress which gave BJP an upper hand at that time.
Another scandal that weakened the Congress government was one where Sushil Sharma, a Congress leader murdered his wife and stuffed the body in a tandoor to hide the crime.
BJP campaigns were taken over by Vajpayee from LK Advani and the party was up against Congress, and a special 'Third Front' or the 'National Front' -- a coalition which included the Left Front, Janata Dal, Telugu Desam and Samajwadi Party.
The results ended up in a hung parliament as Congress could not get majority due to the rising unpopularity. BJP had become the largest party in Lok Sabha, despite not winning the popular vote.
The then President Shankar Dayal Sharma invited Vajpayee to form the government, and the BJP leader had to show a majority within two weeks. But on the 13th day after swearing in as PM, Vajpayee announced his resignation saying that he could not gain enough support for the majority.
HD Deve Gowda from Janata Dal took over as PM as the 'United Front' leader, with support from Congress.
1998 elections
Two years later, the United Front government fell apart due to instability, when the Congress left the alliance.
In this election, Vajpayee was up against Congress' Sitaram Kesri and Inder Kumar Gujral from the United Front. Again the BJP and Congress did not win the majority. However, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was formed with the coalition of BJP, AIADMK, Trinamool Congress, Shiv Sena, Janata Party and Telugu Desam Party amongst others.
Nine months later, Vajpayee stepped down after losing the trust vote in a no-confidence motion. This was due to the withdrawal of support from AIADMK led by Jayalalithaa.
1999 elections
After losing the trust vote in April 1999, President KR Narayanan called for fresh elections. Vajpayee acted as the caretaker prime minister till then.
These elections were held in September-October 1999 right after the Kargil War. BJP formed the NDA again, including over 20 regional and small parties. Congress had Sonia Gandhi in the lead. Her leadership was relatively new and was challenged by the Maharashtrian Congress leader Sharad Pawar due to her Italian background. The United Front consisted of left parties that were not strong enough.
The BJP-led NDA strategically won as it covered many regional issues during the campaigning. The NDA stayed strong till the end of its term in May 2004.