New Delhi: On the occasion of the first death anniversary of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Vice President of India M Venkaiah Naidu on Friday paid rich tributes to the leader by recalling his contribution to India and referring to him as a "beloved leader and role model". Naidu remembered the late leader's contribution to nation-building and credited him with bringing systematic changes to governance.

Taking to micro-blogging site Twitter, the Vice President said, "I join the nation in remembering former Prime Minister of India, 'Bharat Ratna', Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ji on his Punyatithi today. I offer my tributes to the tallest leader of our times. Atal Ji was a role model, an astute parliamentarian, an administrator par excellence, a visionary statesman, an erudite scholar, a gifted orator, a most beloved leader, above all, a great human being who believed in the core Indian values of harmony and synthesis."