Lal Krishna Advani, the senior BJP leader, turned 94 years old today. PM Narendra Modi, Rajnath Singh, JP Nadda and many other leaders wished him a happy birthday.
A tribute is due to L.K. Advani, the 94-year-old former deputy prime minister and the longest-serving president of the BJP. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and many other leaders greeted him and lauded his contributions to the country and party.
“Happy birthday to respected Advani Ji. Sending him best wishes for a long and healthy life. The nation is indebted to him for his tireless efforts to empower and enhance the cultural pride of the nation, as well as his scholarly pursuits and scholarly intelligence,” Mr Modi tweeted.
Defending Minister Rajnath Singh hailed Mr Advani as an inspiration and guide and said he was regarded as a leading scholar in the country whose scholarship all respect foresight and intellect.
BJP president J.P. Nadha praised the veteran leader for bringing the party to the people and contributing to the country’s development. As he wished him a long and healthy life, he said the nonagenarian leader was an inspiration to crores of party workers.
With the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, Mr Advani crafted and shaped Hindutva politics and led his party and its forerunner Jana Sangh for decades, alongside former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
LK Advani attends BJP’s executive committee meeting.
On Sunday, the Bharatiya Janata Party‘s national executive committee met. Meeting opened formally by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President JP Nadda.
LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, two senior BJP leaders, attended the crucial meeting virtually, while JP Nadda delivered the opening speech.
One hundred twenty-four party members participated in the discussion, which discussed election strategies for the seven states that will vote in 2022.
LK Advani: a brief biography
Advani was born in Karachi, Pakistan, and his family moved to India just before British India was partitioned in 1947. Advani began his political career as a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a right-wing Hindu nationalist group, on November 8, 1927.
Mr Advani had a reputation as an effective and honest – if ruthless – administrator with excellent analytical skills.
An avid cricket and Bollywood fan, he enjoys Alvin Toffler’s writings about adapting to a changing world.
In 1990, he travelled across India to drum up support for a campaign to construct a Hindu temple on the site of the Babri mosque. Some of India’s deadliest religious violence has resulted from its destruction.
Advani was also the seventh Deputy Prime Minister of India under Atal Bihari Vajpayee from 2002 to 2004.
The BJP-led Democratic Alliance government from 1998 to 2004 appointed him Minister of Home Affairs in the BJP-led Democratic Alliance government from 1998 to 2004. Earlier this year, he received the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second-highest civilian honour.
The controversy surrounding Pakistan’s visit
As relations thawed in June 2005, he made a landmark six-day trip to Pakistan as part of his effort to reposition himself and shed his hawkish image.
Advani would appeal to a broader electorate by adopting a more moderate tone, the theory went.
In contrast, his praise for the founder of Pakistan, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, provoked anger and controversy in India.
Following his isolation within the BJP and criticism by Hindu nationalist pressure groups, he offered to step down as party president. These groups view the founder of Pakistan as the architect of the partition of India along communal lines.
Coalition allies of the BJP were also unhappy. While he failed to win the job of prime minister, he weathered the storm.
Advani has devoted decades to construct a temple in Ayodhya, a flashpoint town in northern India. LK Advani will stand out in history as a divisive figure who changed the face of India over a decades-long career.
