VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan paid rich tributes to former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on his 97th birth anniversary, which is observed as 'Good Governance Day' all over the country. Governor Harichandan offered floral tributes to the portrait of Vajpayee at a programme held at Raj Bhavan on Saturday.
"Vajpayee was a great leader whose stature cannot be compared with any other leader. He was a great orator, poet and leader who fought for the rights of the common man and the downtrodden. I had the good fortune of working under him when he was the national president of the Jan Sangh, and he nominated me as the president of the Odisha unit," the Governor said.
"Vajpayee's project Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana connecting villages with good road network so that people in villages can move around easily enabled growth of trade and commerce and development in all spheres," he added.
The atomic tests conducted at Pokhran were among his greatest contributions, the Governor said and described Vajpayee as someone who was not perturbed by threats from big powers.