L. K. Advani

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L. K. Advani
President of the Bharatiya Janata Party
In office
1986–1991
Preceded byAtal Bihari Vajpayee
Succeeded byMurli Manohar Joshi
Personal details
Born
Lal Krishna Advani

(1927-11-08) 8 November 1927 (age 96)
Karachi, Bombay Presidency, British India
(present-day Sindh, Pakistan)
Political partyBharatiya Janata Party
Spouse
Kamla Advani
​
​
(m. 1965; died 2016)​
ChildrenPratibha Advani (daughter)
Jayant Advani (son)
AwardsBharat Ratna
Padma Vibhushan
Signature

Lal Krishna Advani (born 8 November 1927) is an Indian politician who served as the 7th Deputy Prime Minister of India from 2002 to 2004. He is one of the co-founders of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a right-wing Hindu nationalist volunteer organization. He is the longest serving Minister of Home Affairs serving from 1998 to 2004. He is also the longest serving Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha. He was the prime ministerial candidate of the BJP during the 2009 general election.

Advani was born in

Syama Prasad Mookerjee and performed various roles including in charge of parliamentary affairs, general secretary, and president of the Delhi unit. In 1967, he was elected as the chairman of the First Delhi metropolitan council and served till 1970 while becoming a member of the RSS national executive. In 1970, Advani became a member of the Rajya Sabha for the first time and would go on to serve four terms till 1989. He became the president of Jan Sangh in 1973 and Jana Sangh merged into the Janata Party before the 1977 general election. Following the Janata party's victory in the elections, Advani became the union minister for Information and Broadcasting
and leader of the house in Rajya Sabha.

In 1980, he was one of the founding members of the BJP along with

Indian parliament until 2019 and is credited for rise of BJP as a major political party. In 2015, he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian honour and in 2024, he was conferred with Bharat Ratna
, India's highest civilian honour.

Early and personal life

Lal Krishna Advani was born on 8 November 1927 in

Bombay University.[5][6]

Advani married Kamla Advani in February 1965 and they have a son Jayant and a daughter Pratibha.[7] Pratibha is a television producer and also supports her father in his political activities.[8] His wife died on 6 April 2016 due to old age.[9] Advani resides in Delhi.[10]

Career

1941-51: Early years

Advani joined the

shakhas and became the secretary of the Karachi unit in 1947.[12] After the partition of India, Advani was a pracharak in Rajasthan working across Alwar, Bharatpur, Kota, Bundi and Jhalawar districts until 1952.[13]

1951-70: Jana Sangh and DMC chairman

Advani became a member of the

Organiser, the weekly newsletter of the RSS and became a member of its national executive in 1966.[13]

1971-75: Parliament entry and Jan Sangh leader

In 1970, Advani became a member of the Rajya Sabha from Delhi for the six-year tenure.[15] In 1973, he was elected as the president of BJS at the Kanpur session of the party working committee meeting.[5]

1976-80: Janata party and cabinet minister

Advani was relected to the Rajya Sabha from

Minister of Information and Broadcasting.[18] The government did not complete its five year term and was dissolved to call fresh elections in 1980 where Janata party lost to the Indian National Congress.[19][20] Subsequently, Advani became the leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha.[5]

1981-89: Formation of BJP and early years

On 6 April 1980, Advani along with few of the erstwhile members of the Jana Sangh quit the Janata Party and formed the Bharatiya Janata Party with Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the first president.[21] Though the previous government lasted briefly from 1977 till 1980 and was marred with factional wars, the period saw a rise in support for the RSS which culminated into the formation of the BJP.[22] In 1982, he was elected to the Rajya Sabha for the third time from Madhya Pradesh representing the BJP.[15] BJP won only two seats in the 1984 election with the Congress winning a landslide on the back of a sympathy wave due to the assassination of Indira Gandhi. This failure led to a shift in the party's stance with Advani being appointed party president and the BJP turning to Hindutva ideology of Jana Sangh.[23]

Under Advani, BJP became the political face of the

National Front government.[27]

1990-97: Rath yatra and rise of BJP

In 1990, Advani embarked on

Somnath in Gujarat and headed to converge at Ayodhya.[28] In the 1991 general election, the BJP became the second largest party after the Congress with Advani winning for the second time from Gandhinagar and becoming the leader of opposition again.[29] In 1992, Babri Masjid was demolished with Advani alleged to have delivered a provocative speech prior to the demolition.[30][31][32] Advani was among the accused in the demolition case but was acquitted on 30 September 2020 by a CBI's special court.[33][34] In the judgement, it was mentioned that the demolition was not pre-planned and that Advani was trying to stop the mob and not incite them.[35][36]

In the 1996 general election, the BJP became the single largest party and was consequently invited by the President to form the government. Advani did not contest the elections over allegations of involvement in the Hawala scandal from which he was acquitted later by Supreme Court.[37][38] While Vajpayee was sworn in as Prime Minister in May 1996, the government collapsed after just thirteen days.[39]

1998-2004: Home minister and deputy prime minister

In the

J. Jayalalitha withdrew its support to the government.[40] With fresh elections being called, the BJP led NDA again won a majority in the 1999 general election and Advani won from Gandhinagar for the fourth term. He assumed the office of Home Minister and was later elevated to the position of Deputy Prime Minister in 2002.[41][42]

2004-09: Leader of opposition

Advani with then US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in 2005

In the

Mohammad Ali Jinnah as a "secular" leader which led to criticism from the RSS. Advani was forced to resign as BJP president but withdrew the resignation a few days later.[47] In April 2005, RSS chief K. S. Sudarshan opined that Advani should step aside.[48] At the silver jubilee celebrations of the BJP in Mumbai in December 2005, Advani stepped down as party president and Rajnath Singh, from Uttar Pradesh was elected in his place. In March 2006, following a bomb blast at a Hindu shrine at Varanasi, Advani undertook a "Bharat Suraksha Yatra" (Sojourn for National Security), to highlight the alleged failure of the ruling United Progressive Alliance in combating terrorism.[49]

2009-15: Prime Minister candidacy and later years

Advani during an election campaign in 2009

In December 2006, Advani stated that as the leader of the opposition in a parliamentary democracy, he considered himself the Prime Ministerial candidate for the next general elections in May 2009.[50] While not everyone was supportive of his candidacy, Vajpayee endorsed Advani's candidacy.[51] On 2 May 2007, BJP President Rajnath Singh stated that Advani is the natural choice for the next prime minister if BJP won the next elections.[52] On 10 December 2007, the Parliamentary Board of BJP formally announced that L. K. Advani would be its prime ministerial candidate for the general elections due in 2009.[53]

Though Advani won his sixth term in Lok Sabha, the BJP lost to Congress and its allies in the 2009 general elections, allowing then incumbent Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to continue in office. Following the defeat in the elections, L. K. Advani handed over the position of leader of opposition to Sushma Swaraj.[54][55] He was elected working chairman of the National Democratic Alliance in 2010.[56] Advani contested the 2014 general election from Gandhinagar, winning for the fifth consecutive time. Later he was part of the Marg Darshak Mandal (vision committee) of the BJP along with Murli Manohar Joshi and Atal Bihari Vajpayee.[57]

Rath Yatras

Advani often organised Rath yatras or processions to boost the popularity of the BJP and unify the Hindutva ideology. He organized six rath yatras or processions across the country with the first one in 1990.[58]

  1. Chief Minister Lalu Yadav with Advani himself being arrested on the orders of V. P. Singh, then Prime Minister of India.[59]
  2. Janadesh Yatra: Four processions starting on 11 September 1993 from four corners of country were organized and Advani led the yatra from Mysore in South India.[60] Traversing through 14 states and two Union Territories, the processions were organized with the purpose to seek the people's mandate against the two bills, the Constitution 80th Amendment Bill and the Representation of People (Amendment) Bill and congregated at Bhopal on 25 September.[61]
  3. Swarna Jayanti Rath Yatra: The procession was organized between May and July 1997 and was conducted in celebration of 50 years of Indian Independence and to project the BJP as a party committed to good governance.[62]
  4. Bharat Uday Yatra: The yatra took place in the run-up to the 2004 election.[63]
  5. Bharat Suraksha Yatra: The BJP launched a nationwide mass political campaign from 6 April to 10 May 2006 consisting of two yatras – one led by Advani from Dwaraka in Gujarat to Delhi and the other led by Rajnath Singh from Puri to Delhi.[64] The yatra was focused on fighting left wing terrorism, minority politics, price rise and corruption, protection of democracy.[65]
  6. Jan Chetna Yatra: The last of the yatras was launched on 11 October 2011 from Sitab Diara in Bihar with the purpose of mobilising public opinion against corruption of then ruling UPA government and promote the BJP agenda of good governance and clean politics.[66]

Positions held

Following are the various positions held by Advani:[5]

Awards and recognition

Advani receiving the Padma Vibhushan award in 2015

Bibliography

  • A Prisoner's Scrap-Book (2002)
    ISBN 978-81-88322-10-7[69]
  • New Approaches to Security and Development (2003)
    ISBN 978-981-230-219-9[70]
  • ISBN 978-81-291-1363-4[71]
  • ISBN 978-81-291-1876-9[72]
  • Nazarband Loktantra (2016)
    ISBN 81-7315-399-X [73]
  • Drishtikon (2016)
    ISBN 978-93-5048-142-4[74]
  • Rashtra Sarvopari (2014)
    ISBN 978-93-5048-549-1[75]

In popular culture

He was called as "Loh Purush" (Iron Man)."[76][77]

See also

References

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Further reading

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to L. K. Advani.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lal Krishna Advani.
Political offices
Preceded by
Minister of Home Affairs

1998–2004 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Chaudhary Devi Lal
 Deputy Prime Minister of India
2002–04 		Vacant
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