L. K. Advani

Lal Krishna Advani was born in Karachi in November 1927 and grew up in Sindh before Partition. He studied at St. Patrick’s School and D.G. National College and later obtained a law qualification in Mumbai. He joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in 1942 and moved to India after Partition. He married Kamla Advani in 1965; they had a son, Jayant, and a daughter, Pratibha.

Advani worked in the Jana Sangh’s organisation and as a journalist before holding national party leadership. His assignments included positions in the Delhi Jana Sangh and the Delhi Metropolitan Council. He became president of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh in the 1970s and was detained during the Emergency. He later held senior responsibilities in the BJP, including its presidency, first assuming that office in May 1986.

Advani served as Information and Broadcasting Minister from March 1977 to July 1979. He later served as Home Minister in the government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee and as Deputy Prime Minister from June 2002 to May 2004. His parliamentary career included both the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha, and periods as Leader of the Opposition. He represented Gandhinagar in the Lok Sabha, including after winning the 2014 election.

In 1990, Advani led the Ram Rath Yatra, a political campaign connected with the movement for a Ram temple in Ayodhya. His later career continued to combine parliamentary responsibilities and BJP organisational work. The Government of India awarded him the Padma Vibhushan in 2015. On 31 March 2024, President Droupadi Murmu conferred the Bharat Ratna on him at a ceremony at his residence in New Delhi.