Former deputy prime minister and veteran of the Bharatiya Janata Party Lal Krishna Advani was awarded the Bharat Ratna by President Droupadi Murmu on Sunday. President Murmu paid Advani a visit at his Delhi home and presented him with the highest civilian award in India.
Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, and the veteran politician’s family members were present for the formal event.
Three Bharat Ratna awards were presented by the government this year: four went to former prime ministers P V Narasimha Rao and Chaudhary Charan Singh; one went to agriculture scientist M S Swaminathan; and one went to Karpoori Thakur, a two-time chief minister of Bihar. Four other people, including Advani, received posthumous awards during a ceremony on Saturday at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
President Murmu hailed Advani as a “doyen of Indian politics” who had served the country with unflinching dedication and distinction for more than seven decades after confirming the honor.
Amidst the split, he moved to India in 1947 after being born in Karachi in 1927. He worked tirelessly for decades, traveling the length and width of the nation with his vision of cultural nationalism, changing the socio-political landscape. The unwavering warrior in him protected India’s democracy from authoritarian tendencies when the Emergency threatened it.
The article also discussed the BJP leader’s accomplishments as a lawmaker, emphasizing how his focus on communication enhanced parliamentary customs.
He consistently put the interests of the country above everything else, whether in his capacity as Home Minister or Deputy Prime Minister, winning him respect and affection from people of all political persuasions. His protracted and unceasing fight for India’s cultural revival resulted in the Ayodhya Shri Ram Temple’s rebuilding in 2024. His achievements offer the best articulation of India’s genius and inclusive traditions, as one of the few post-Independence political leaders who was able to reshape the national agenda and set it on the path of growth,” the article stated.
It was very remarkable to watch LK Advani Ji receive the Bharat Ratna, Prime Minister Modi added, praising Advani’s efforts to nation-building. This honor is a testament to his ongoing efforts to the advancement of our country. His commitment to public service and his crucial part in the development of contemporary India have permanently altered our history.
MORE ABOUT LAL KRISHNA ADVANI
Lal Krishna Advani, better known by his stage as LK Advani, is regarded as one of the tallest BJP leaders, having written the script for the party’s ascent from obscurity to prominence. The BJP was thrust into national politics during his Rath Yatra in the 1990s.
Over the years, LK Advani presided over the BJP for the longest duration from the party’s founding in 1980. LK Advani concluded a nearly three-decade career in parliament by serving as Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s home minister and then deputy prime minister (1999–2004).
He studied law at the Government Law College in Mumbai after earning his degree from the DG National College in Hyderabad. In 1947, he joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and assumed leadership of its activities in Rajasthan.
LK Advani was appointed Secretary of the Rajasthan chapter of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS), the political wing of the RSS, by Syama Prasad Mookerjee in 1951. He held this position until 1970.
He also served as Assistant Editor of the Jana Sangh’s political publication, the Organiser, from 1960 to 1967.
He joined the party’s Delhi section in 1970 to be closer to the epicenter of all political activity in the nation.
He joined the Rajya Sabha in 1970 and remained a member till 1989. After winning election, he led the BJS until 1977, when he left the position to take on the role of Information and Broadcasting Minister for the coalition Janata Party.
He eliminated press censorship, overturned all anti-press laws passed under the Emergency, and institutionalized changes to protect media freedom while serving as a minister. A sizable portion of the party’s supporters, led by LK Advani and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, founded the BJP in 1980 as a result of the fall of the Moraji Desai government and the BJS that followed.
In the 1990s, LK Advani conducted a number of rath yatras around India in an effort to popularize the party and raise awareness of its goals. In 1998, he was chosen to represent Gandhinagar, Gujarat, in the Lok Sabha.
LK Advani served as the coalition government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Union Home Minister twice before being appointed Deputy Prime Minister in 2002. After his party lost the 2004 general elections, he was elected to the Lok Sabha as Leader of the Opposition.