Editing Atal Bihari Vajpayee (section)

== Post-premiership ==
[[File:Atal Bihari Bajpayee and the BJP President, Shri Rajnath Singh coming out from the polling booth after casting their vote for the Presidential election at Parliament House, in New Delhi on July 19, 2007.jpg|thumb|Vajpayee and [[Rajnath Singh]] (left) during the voting for [[2007 Indian presidential election|2007 Indian Presidential election]]]]
In December 2005, Vajpayee announced his retirement from active politics, declaring that he would not contest in the next general election. In a famous statement at the BJP's silver jubilee rally at Mumbai's [[Shivaji Park]], Vajpayee announced that "Henceforth, [[Lal Krishna Advani]] and [[Pramod Mahajan]] will be the [[Rama|Ram]]-[[Lakshmana|Lakshman]] [the two godly brothers much revered and worshipped by Hindus of the BJP."<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4567802.stm|title=BBC NEWS {{!}} World {{!}} South Asia {{!}} Vajpayee to retire from politics|publisher=BBC|access-date=25 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061123203026/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4567802.stm|archive-date=23 November 2006|url-status=live|date=29 December 2005}}</ref> 
                                   
In 2007, Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee proposed his name for 2007 presidential polls, but he denied it.<ref>https://www.oneindia.com/2007/05/17/race-for-president-not-intersted-vajpayee-1179346008.html</ref>{{efn|Earlier, in 2002 RSS wanted him as presidential candidate while during his primership<ref>https://m.economictimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/rss-wanted-atal-bihari-vajpayee-as-president-but-sps-choice-apj-abdul-kalam-prevailed/articleshow/48259937.cms</ref>}}
                             
Vajpayee was referred to as the ''[[Bhishma]] Pitamah'' of Indian politics by former prime minister Manmohan Singh during a speech in the [[Rajya Sabha]], a reference to the character in the Hindu epic [[Mahabharata]] who was held in respect by two warring sides.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/ldquoBhishma-Pitamahrdquo-should-rise-above-party-politics-PM/article15179175.ece|title="Bhishma Pitamah" should rise above party politics: PM|work=The Hindu|access-date=25 July 2017|archive-date=17 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180817095855/https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/ldquoBhishma-Pitamahrdquo-should-rise-above-party-politics-PM/article15179175.ece|url-status=live}}</ref>
                            
Vajpayee was hospitalised at [[All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi]] (AIIMS) for a chest infection and fever on 6 February 2009. He was put on ventilator support as his condition worsened but he eventually recuperated and was later discharged.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/vajpayee-showing-signs-of-improvement/|title=Vajpayee showing signs of improvement|date=5 February 2009|work=The Indian Express|access-date=25 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180421163316/http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/vajpayee-showing-signs-of-improvement/|archive-date=21 April 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Unable to participate in the campaign for the [[2009 Indian general election|2009 general election]] due to his poor health, he wrote a letter urging voters to back the BJP.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://indianexpress.com/article/india/politics/vajpayee-asks-lucknow-voters-to-ensure-bjps-win/|title=Vajpayee asks Lucknow voters to ensure BJP's win|date=17 April 2009|work=The Indian Express|access-date=25 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171002185425/http://indianexpress.com/article/india/politics/vajpayee-asks-lucknow-voters-to-ensure-bjps-win/|archive-date=2 October 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> His protege [[Lalji Tandon]] was able to retain the [[Lucknow (Lok Sabha constituency)|Lucknow]] seat in that election even though the NDA suffered electoral reverses all over the country. It was speculated that Vajpayee's non-partisan appeal contributed to Lalji's success in Lucknow in contrast to that BJP's poor performance elsewhere in [[Uttar Pradesh]].<ref name=":2">{{cite web|url=http://www.indiainfoline.com/prime-ministers-of-india/atal-bihari-vajpayee|title=Prime Ministers of India&nbsp;– Atal Bihari Vajpayee|last=indiainfoline.com|website=indiainfoline.com|access-date=24 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170715100329/http://www.indiainfoline.com/prime-ministers-of-india/atal-bihari-vajpayee|archive-date=15 July 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>