Schools, offices closed tomorrow on Vajpayee’s demise

More than 12 states and the central government have announced a holiday tomorrow, Friday, August 17, 2018 following the death of former Prime Minister of India, Atal Behari Vajpayee. The states include Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, UP, MP, Bihar, Assam, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, among others.

Vajpayee breathed his last on Thursday at 5:05 pm, said an official statement and the government has announced a 7-day mourning whereby the national flags will be lowered half mast.

Delhi Government was among the many states to announce a holiday the next day, Friday, August 17 for all schools, colleges and government offices. Haryana, Punjab, UP, MP, Bihar, Assam, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand followed the same while Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan and other states are yet to announce the holiday officially.

Goa has later joined others and announced state holiday in Goa on Friday. Andhra Pradesh is yet to announce a holiday. Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, Manish Sisodia, was the first to tweet a statewide holiday. However, all IT and private companies will work as usual.

Atal Behari Vajpayee was remembered for his famous speech at UN in Hindi for the first time in 1978 as foreign minister and then his bold move to hold the Pokhran Tests. His poems in Hindi are famous and he is seen a literary figure in the field.

Thrice Prime Minister of India in span of 10 years. Vajpayee was a respected leader among all the parties cutting acrosss the ideological divide.