BJP doyen Lal Krishna Advani conferred with Bharat Ratna

NEW DELHI: Former Deputy Prime Minister and senior BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani was conferred with the Bharat Ratna Award, the country’s highest civilian honour on Saturday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the news on social media platform X.

In his felicitation note, the Prime Minister described Advani as the best national strategist of his era.

“I am very happy to share that Shri L K 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,” PM Modi scribbled on X.

Advani, who was in the Rajya Sabha from 1970 to 1989, was the Minister of Communications in the Janata government era. While in office, Advani did some pioneering work to free Doordarshan and Akashvani from the clutches of government power. He also removed all the draconian laws against media imposed by Indira Gandhi during the emergency.

Advani was the general secretary of the BJP for six years after it was formed in 1980. He became the party president in 1986. The Karachi-born man then unleashed the greatest-ever tactic in modern Indian politics with the introduction of Rath yatra which changed the contour of Indian politics for good. This also paved the way for the BJP to establish its presence in Indian polity from their modest start.

His autobiography ‘My Country My Life’ was released in 2008 where he revealed the Kandahar fiasco which quickly turned controversial.