Power is like oxygen for "some people" with restlessness setting in if they are out of it for even "two or five years", Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday while taking a jibe at the opposition but without naming anybody or any party.


Releasing a Rs 100 commemorative coin in the memory of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on the eve of his 94th birth anniversary, Modi said the late premier spent most of his political life in the opposition benches but always thought of the country and its people.


"Today's political landscape is such that if someone has to stay out of power even for two or five years, they become restless," he told the gathering. Vajpayee, he added, committed every second of his life for the welfare of the people. "For some people, power is oxygen...they can't live without it. A long part of Atal-ji's career was spent in the opposition benches but he spoke about national interest and never compromised on the ideology of the party," the Prime Minister's Office added on Twitter while quoting the prime minister's speech.


Vajpayee's long-time associate and BJP veteran L K Advani, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and BJP president Amit Shah were also present at the event. Discussing Vajpayee's political journey, Modi said he always kept the nation and democracy before himself and the party. -- PTI