Lal Krishnachand Advani, better known to us as L. K. Advani, is a name that needs no introduction. A veteran Indian politician and former leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party, L. K. Advani’s ambitious political journey, spanning over three decades, has been quite eventful, not to say, even bumpy at times. One of the most widely regarded faces in the realms of Indian politics, the political career of this octogenarian politician has been dented by a slew of controversies, ranging from the Jinnah episode, the Hawala scandal, Babri Masjid demolition and more. However, his intellectual forte, rock-firm principles, and values sailed him through all odds and helped him propel his political ambitions to greater heights. A man of strength, power and conviction, L. K. Advani continues to be an inspiration for many even today. Know all about the life and feats of this great Indian politician in the write-up below.
L. K. Advani Biography
L. K. Advani Early Life
L.K. Advani was born to Kishanchand D. Advani and Gyani Devi in Karachi, Sindh, then a part of undivided India. He completed his education from Saint Patrick’s High School, and Dayaram Gidumal National College in Pakistan and then went on to graduate from Government Law College in Bombay. He completed his Master’s in Sociology from Mumbai University.
L. K. Advani Political Career
L.K Advani started his career as a teacher, teaching English, history, math and science to high school students at Model High School in Karachi. His political career took off after he was elected as the Secretary of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. In the next few years, he was appointed as a member of Bharatiya Jana Sangh. After serving various roles in the party, he was finally elected as its President. In course of time, Jana Sangh coalesced with other political parties to become Janata Party. The unpopularity of Emergency rule paved way for Janata Party to come to power and with that Advani became the Minister of Information and Broadcasting. However, inner animosity within the party led to the formation of Bharatiya Janata Party with L. K. Advani becoming one of its most prominent members and representing the party in Rajya Sabha.
In the year 1986, L.K Advani was appointed as the president of BJP. Advani changed the face of BJP by bringing in more aggressive form of Hindutvaa policies that propelled BJP to great heights. This benefitted the party largely and in the next assembly elections, BJP defeated Congress to come to power. However, internal politics, corruption, and controversies didn’t allow BJP to stay in power for long and in the next assembly elections, the party was overthrown by Congress. The BJP came back to power with a bang in the year 1998 under the umbrella of coalition governance of NDA. Lal Krishna Advani was appointed as the Deputy Prime Minister. However, charges of scams weakened their power and NDA was knocked out of power in 2004 assembly elections.
Lal Krishna Advani always aspired to become the Prime Minister and has in fact, contested for it several times. However, with the victory of Indian National Congress in the last assembly elections, this octogenarian politician’s ambition to occupy the top seat was quashed forever. Owing to his defeat in the elections, he had to give up his position of the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha to close comrade Sushma Swaraj.
L. K. Advani Contributions
Shri L. K. Advani’s contribution to the growth and success of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been enormous. Being one of the oldest party members as well as one of the most powerful forefront leaders of BJP, he has spent more than 30 years of his life in the dedicated service of his party. Not only that, L. K. Advani also served as the Deputy Prime Minister of India during the Prime Ministerial tenure of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, contributing to the political machinery of the country significantly.
L. K. Advani Political Timelines
1927: Was born in Karachi.
1936-1942: Studied at St. Patricks School, Karachi.
1942: Joined the RSS as a Swayamsevak.
1944: Held a job as a teacher in Model High School, Karachi.
1947: Left from Sindh to Delhi.
1947-1951: Organized RSS work in Alwar, Bharatpur, Kota, Bundi and Jhalawar as RSS Secretary in the Karachi branch.
1957: Shifted to Delhi to assist Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
1958-1963: Held the position of Secretary of the Delhi State Jana Sangh.
1960-1967: Joined the Organiser, a political journal of the Jana Sangh as assistant editor.
1965: Married Smt. Kamla Advani and has two children, Pratibha and Jayant.
1970: Entered the Rajya Sabha.
1972: Was elected President of Bharatiya Jana Sangh.
1975: Was Arrested in Bangalore during Emergency period and taken to Bangalore Central Jail along with other BJS members.
1977-1979: Held the position of Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting.
1986: Became Party President of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
1980-1986: Held the position of General Secretary of the BJP.
1986: Was announced as party President of the BJP.
1988: Was re-elected party president of the BJP and held the position of Home minister in the BJP Government.
1990: Began the Ram Rath Yatha from Somnath to Ayodhya.
1997: Began the Swarna Jayanti Rath Yathra to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of India’s Independence.
1999-2004: Held the position of Deputy Prime Minister.
2004-2009: Was Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha
Political Journey
- Advani joined RSS at a very young age and soon became a full-time worker there. He had Rajasthan from Karachi after the partition.
- In 1955, Advani got him linked with Bhartiya Jana Sangh, an Indian nationalist political party which was founded by Shri Shyama Prasad Mookerjee and in 1951 and lasted till 1977.
- Advani was a Rajya Sabha member from Delhi for a period of 6 years (1970-76).
- It was in 1973 when Advani after serving various positions in the party was made it’s President.
- He then became a Rajya Sabha member from Gujarat in 1976 and completed his tenure of six years in 1982.
- Jan Sangh and some other political parties merged into Janata Party after the Emergency. Advani contested Lok Sabha elections in 1977 from Janata Party.
- Some former members of Jana Sangh left Janata Party and raised a new political party; BJP, for which Advani played a vital role and represented the party in Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh which began in 1982 and held the position for two consecutive terms.
- He was then made the President of BJP in 1986 and continued onto the position till 1991.
- In 1989, he became the Lok Sabha member, the time when Indian National Congress had to hold the hands of BJP which held 86 seats to form the government.
- Advani again became the Lok Sabha member in 1991 where the general elections gave BJP a boost and got them the second highest number of seats following Congress.
- He was again elected as the BJP President in 1993 and he held the post till 1998.
- L K Advani was sworn in as Union Home Minister in 1998 but could not continue to be one as the government dissolved in just 13 months.
- In 1999 he again became the Home Minister of India and this time government did last for 5 years. This was the first time that a non-congress government completed the whole term.
- From 2002 to 2004, he served as the Deputy Prime Minister of India.
- He was re-elected to the Lak Sabha in 2004 but this time as an opposition one.
- In 2009, he became a Lok Sabha member for the sixth time.
- Advani became the member of Joint Parliamentary Committee on Maintenance of Heritage Character and Development of Parliament House Complex in December 2009.
- To almost everyone’s surprise, he resigned from each and every post he held in 2013.
- He was again elected as a Lok Sabha member in 2014.
Controversies
- Advani in 1996 had to resign as a Lok Sabha Member after he was alleged in the Jain Hawala Diaries. He was reported to have received money from them.
- In 1992, his name appeared among the accused of the demolition of Babri Mosque in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. Among a total of 49 cases filed in 1992, the second case, FIR no 198, had named L. K. Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, and Uma Bharti, accusing them of promoting religious enmity and provoking rioting. Later, in 1993, the CBI filed a single, consolidated chargesheet against 48 people, including L. K. Advani, Kalyan Singh, and Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray. Later, after an order by the Supreme Court, cases against Mr Advani, Mr Joshi, and Uma Bharti moved from Lalitpur to Rae Bareli to Lucknow. On 30 September 2020, after 28 years, a Special CBI Court in Lucknow, acquitted all 32 accused in the Babri Mosque Demolition Case, including BJP leaders LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, and Uma Bharti. On 6 December 1992, Babri Mosque, a 16th-century mosque in Ayodhya, was demolished by thousands of “Kar Sevaks” who believed that the mosque was built on the ruins of an ancient temple that marked the birthplace of Lord Rama. In November 2020, in a landmark verdict, the Supreme Court of India ordered the construction of a temple at the site.
Unknown Facts About L. K. Advani
- Advani became a member of RSS in 1942 and started teaching at Model High School, Karachi in 1944.
- Advani gave BJP the stature it needed to be considered among the national ones. When in 1986, he was named as the party president, he had to face a lot of problems as they just had 2 of their leaders as Lok Sabha members as the Congress party swept every bit in the general elections after the assassination of Indira Gandhi.
- As of January 2017, L. K. Advani has undertaken 6 yatras across the country. In 1990, Advani started his first yatra on the issue of Ram Temple in Ayodhya. This was named Ram Rath Yatra. The yatra paid some swing in the 1991 general elections.
- He had the toughest time as a Union Home Minister as India was facing a number of disturbances due to the tensions between India and Pakistan.
- He completed 7872 km of travelling in just 33 days in a mini bus across India but did not get tired. He says walking is the secret of his fitness. He travels for an hour every morning without feeling any strain.
- L. K. Advani was conferred Padma Vibhushan, second highest civilian honour in India in 2015.
- His autobiography My Country My Life which was published by the former President Abdul Kalam in 2008 has a record sale of over 1 Million (10 lakh) copies.
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