NEW DELHI, November 8: Former Deputy Prime Minister and Bharat Ratna Lal Krishna Advani enters the hundredth year of his life today, on his 99th birthday, which this year falls on Diwali. Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted him and published an article tracing Mr Advani’s journey from Partition-era Karachi to the leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and high office in government.
Key highlights
- Born: November 8, 1927, in Karachi, on Dev Deepawali, according to the Prime Minister’s article.
- Milestones: Information and Broadcasting Minister in the 1977 Janata government; later Deputy Prime Minister and one of India’s longest-serving Home Ministers.
- Party: helped strengthen the Jana Sangh and build the BJP; as BJP President he saw the party become the single largest in the Lok Sabha for the first time in 1996.
- Rath Yatra: led the Somnath to Ayodhya Rath Yatra, which Mr Modi calls an iconic moment of his life.
- Honour: conferred the Bharat Ratna in 2024.
| Year | Milestone (as described by the Prime Minister) |
|---|---|
| 1927 | Born in Karachi on November 8 |
| 1947 | Left Sindh after Partition and rebuilt his life |
| 1967 | Chairman of the Delhi Metropolitan Council |
| 1970 | Began his parliamentary career |
| 1977 | Minister for Information and Broadcasting in the Janata government |
| 1991 | Contested Lok Sabha from Gandhinagar, which re-elected him many times |
| 1996 | BJP became the single largest party in the Lok Sabha for the first time |
| 2024 | Conferred the Bharat Ratna |
| 2026 | Enters his 100th year on November 8 |
What the Prime Minister wrote
In the article, Mr Modi wrote that “there are very few people whose lives have touched so many different chapters of modern India.” He described how Mr Advani left his familiar world in Sindh in 1947 and “rebuilt his life from scratch without bitterness”, worked as an RSS pracharak in Rajasthan, and then worked closely with Atal Bihari Vajpayee for decades. “Together, they changed the course of Indian politics,” Mr Modi wrote.
The Prime Minister recalled Mr Advani’s role during the Emergency, which he wrote about in his book “A Prisoner’s Scrap-Book”, and his work as Home Minister, saying his “unequivocal stand against terrorism ensured India got a tough anti-terror law.” He also described Mr Advani as a voracious reader, a fan of cinema and theatre, and the author of the memoir “My Country My Life”, and paid tribute to his wife, Kamla Advani, as “a constant source of strength”.
A year of anniversaries
Mr Modi noted that the birthday comes 75 years after the Jana Sangh was founded, in the 125th birth anniversary year of Syama Prasad Mookerjee, and soon after the RSS marked its centenary. He also wrote that he helped prepare Mr Advani’s nomination papers for the 1991 Lok Sabha election from Gandhinagar and has voted for him there as a constituent.
Our calculation
- Mr Advani’s parliamentary career began in 1970, more than five decades ago.
- He turns 99 today; the “hundredth year” runs until his 100th birthday on November 8, 2027.
What it means for India and Asia
Mr Advani is one of the last links to the founding generation of the BJP, which now leads India’s government. His career, from the Jana Sangh to the Home Ministry, tracks the rise of the party from the margins to the centre of Indian politics, a shift that has shaped Indian politics over the past three decades.
L.K. Advani at Parliament House, New Delhi (file photo). Image: Ministry of Home Affairs, GODL-India, via Wikimedia Commons. Photo source · Licence
Sources
- Prime Minister’s Office (PIB): Prime Minister greets Bharat Ratna, Shri L.K. Advani Ji as he enters his 100th year, November 8, 2026
- Narendra Modi (official website): “Bharat Ratna LK Advani Ji at 100!”, November 8, 2026
The National Desk covers India's politics, governance, security and public-interest news. Stories are checked against at least two credible sources before publication.
