Atal Bihari Vajpayee's niece Karuna Shukla on Friday hailed the awarding of the prestigious Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian award, to the former prime minister.
"Atal ji is honoured by the Bharat Ratna and the honour of the Bharat Ratna is linked to Atal ji. Both complement each other. We all are very happy," she told ANI.
"There is only one Atal in this country and he will be the only one," she added.
President Pranab Mukherjee will present the Bharat Ratna to Vajpayee today at the latter's residence in Lutyens' Delhi.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be among a host of VVIPs likely to be present at the ceremony.
Various political leaders, including Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and former J-K chief minister Omar Abdullah, have welcomed the Bharat Ratna for the former prime minister.
Vajpayee, a three-time prime minister of India, is the first leader from the Bharatiya Janata Party to be given the country's highest civilian award.