LK Advani To Get Bharat Ratna

Senior BJP leader and former Deputy Prime Minister of India Lal Krishna Advani will be conferred Bharat Ratna, country’s highest civilian award. The announcement was made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an X post.

”I am very happy to share that Shri LK Advani Ji will be conferred the Bharat Ratna. I also spoke to him and congratulated him on being conferred this honour. One of the most respected statesmen of our times, his contribution to the development of India is monumental. His is a life that started from working at the grassroots to serving the nation as our Deputy Prime Minister. He distinguished himself as our Home Minister and I&B Minister as well. His Parliamentary interventions have always been exemplary, full of rich insights,” PM Modi tweeted.

I am very happy to share that Shri LK Advani Ji will be conferred the Bharat Ratna. I also spoke to him and congratulated him on being conferred this honour. One of the most respected statesmen of our times, his contribution to the development of India is monumental. His is a… pic.twitter.com/Ya78qjJbPK

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 3, 2024

Born in 1927, Lal Krishna Advani served as the home minister and then deputy Prime minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led BJP government from 2022 to 2004. He was one of the co-founders of the BJP and also the longest-served president of the party since its onset in 1980.  The now 96-year-old Advani was one of the major figures who is credited with popularising the Bharatiya Janata Party in Indian national politics during his active career tenure.

Inspired by the ideals of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), he became an RSS worker as early as 1947. He was also part of the BJP’s predecessor, Jana Sangh. It was after his Ram Janmabhoomi movement in Ayodhya that he became the face of the aggressive Hindutva ideology. He led the famous Ram Rath Yatra in 1990s to mobilise people to the campaign to build a Ram temple on the site where the 16th Century Babari Masjid was standing. The movement eventually led to the demolition of the Masjid by the kar sevaks, the religious volunteers involving the VHP and BJP workers.

The present BJP government had on January 22 inaugurated the Ram temple built at Ajodhya after the Supreme Court in 2019 ruled in favour of the temple committee in the Babari-Masjid Ram Janmabhoomi dispute case. The Court while delivering the verdict had said that the demolition was in violation of the law.