When Atal Bihari Vajpayee became the Prime Minister for the first time in 1996, what was the approximate duration of his tenure as Prime Minister?

Correct option is B

The correct answer is (B) two weeks

Explanation:

• Atal Bihari Vajpayee served his first term as Prime Minister from May 16, 1996, to June 1, 1996.
• This tenure lasted for exactly 13 days, which corresponds to the "two weeks" timeframe mentioned in the options.
• Following the 1996 General Elections, the BJP emerged as the single largest party, and President Shankar Dayal Sharma invited Vajpayee to form the government.
• However, the government resigned before the scheduled "vote of confidence" in the Lok Sabha because the BJP was unable to secure the support of enough regional parties to reach a majority.
• His resignation speech in the Parliament remains one of the most famous orations in Indian political history, where he famously stated, "Governments come and governments go, but this country should remain."

Information Booster:

• Despite the brevity of his first term, Vajpayee went on to serve two more terms:
• Second Term (1998–1999): Lasted for 13 months, ending after the AIADMK withdrew support.
• Third Term (1999–2004): He became the first non-Congress Prime Minister to complete a full five-year term.
• In 2015, he was conferred with India's highest civilian honor, the Bharat Ratna.

Additional Knowledge:

Two days (Option A)

• While 13 days is very short, no Indian Prime Minister has served for only two days. Gulzarilal Nanda served as acting PM for 13 days twice (after the deaths of Nehru and Shastri), matching the length of Vajpayee's first term.

Two months (Option C)

• Several Prime Ministers had short tenures (like Charan Singh or V.P. Singh), but they generally lasted around 6 to 11 months rather than just two.

Two years (Option D)

• Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda (who succeeded Vajpayee in 1996) and I.K. Gujral served for approximately one year each, collectively covering the two-year period between 1996 and 1998.