L. K. Advani | |
|---|---|
 Advani in 2022 | |
| 7th Deputy Prime Minister of India | |
| In office 29 June 2002 – 22 May 2004 | |
| Prime Minister | Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
| Preceded by | Devi Lal (1991) |
| Succeeded by | Vacant |
| Union Minister of Home Affairs | |
| In office 19 March 1998 – 22 May 2004 | |
| Prime Minister | Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
| Preceded by | Indrajit Gupta |
| Succeeded by | Shivraj Patil |
| 16thUnion Minister of Coal and Mines | |
| In office 1 July 2002 – 26 August 2002 | |
| Prime Minister | Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
| Preceded by | Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
| Succeeded by | Uma Bharati |
| 17thUnion Minister of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions | |
| In office 29 January 2003 – 21 May 2004 | |
| Prime Minister | Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
| Preceded by | Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
| Succeeded by | Manmohan Singh |
| 6thLeader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha | |
| In office 22 May 2004 – 21 December 2009 | |
| Prime Minister | Manmohan Singh |
| Preceded by | Sonia Gandhi |
| Succeeded by | Sushma Swaraj |
| In office 24 December 1990 – 25 July 1993 | |
| Prime Minister | |
| Preceded by | Rajiv Gandhi |
| Succeeded by | Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
| Member of Parliament,Lok Sabha | |
| In office 28 February 1998 – 23 May 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Vijay Patel |
| Succeeded by | Amit Shah |
| Constituency | Gandhinagar, Gujarat |
| In office 26 November 1989 – 7 May 1996 | |
| Preceded by | Krishna Chandra Pant |
| Succeeded by | Rajesh Khanna |
| Constituency | New Delhi, Delhi |
| 2ndPresident of the Bharatiya Janata Party | |
| In office 2004–2005 | |
| Preceded by | Venkaiah Naidu |
| Succeeded by | Rajnath Singh |
| In office 1993–1998 | |
| Preceded by | Murli Manohar Joshi |
| Succeeded by | Kushabhau Thakre |
| In office 1986–1991 | |
| Preceded by | Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
| Succeeded by | Murli Manohar Joshi |
| 5thLeader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha | |
| In office 21 January 1980 – 7 April 1980 | |
| Vice President | Mohammad Hidayatullah |
| Preceded by | Kamalapati Tripathi |
| Succeeded by | P. Shiv Shankar |
| 11thUnion Minister of Information & Broadcasting | |
| In office 24 March 1977 – 28 July 1979 | |
| Prime Minister | Morarji Desai |
| Preceded by | Vidya Charan Shukla |
| Succeeded by | Purushottam Kaushik |
| Member of Parliament,Rajya Sabha | |
| In office 3 April 1988 – 30 November 1989 | |
| Preceded by | Hans Raj Bhardwaj |
| Succeeded by | Jinendra Kumar Jain |
| Constituency | Madhya Pradesh |
| In office 3 April 1982 – 2 April 1988 | |
| Preceded by | Sawai Singh Sisodiya |
| Succeeded by | Radhakishan Malviya |
| Constituency | Madhya Pradesh |
| In office 3 April 1976 – 2 April 1982 | |
| Preceded by | Devdatt Kumar Kikabhai Patel |
| Succeeded by | Kumud Ben Joshi |
| Constituency | Gujarat |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Lal Krishna Advani (1927-11-08)8 November 1927 (age 98) |
| Political party | Bharatiya Janata Party (1980–present) |
| Other political affiliations |
|
| Spouse | |
| Children | Pratibha Advani (daughter) Jayant Advani (son) |
| Residence |
|
| Alma mater | St. Patrick's High School, Karachi Government Law College, Mumbai[3] |
| Occupation |
|
| Awards | Bharat Ratna Padma Vibhushan |
| Signature |  |
Lal Krishna Advani (born 8 November 1927) is an Indianpolitician andstatesman who served as theDeputy Prime Minister of India from 2002 to 2004. He is one of the co-founders of theBharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and a member of theRashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), aHindu nationalist organisation. He was the longest servingMinister of Home Affairs serving for 6 years and 64 days from 1998 to 2004, until Amit Shah overtook him in 2025. He is also the longest servingLeader of the Opposition in theLok Sabha, as well as the longest serving President of the BJP, the current ruling party of India. He was the party's prime ministerial candidate during the1989,1991, and2009 general elections.
Advani was born inKarachi and migrated to India during thePartition of India and settled down inBombay where he completed his college education. Advani joined the RSS in 1941 at the age of fourteen and worked as a pracharak (RSS officer) inRajasthan. In 1951, Advani became a member of theBharatiya Jana Sangh party founded bySyama Prasad Mookerjee and performed various roles, including supervisor of parliamentary affairs, general secretary, and president of the Delhi unit. In 1967, he was elected as the chairman of the FirstDelhi metropolitan council and served till 1970 while becoming a member of the RSS national executive. In 1970, Advani became a member of theRajya Sabha for the first time and would go on to serve four terms until 1989. He became the president of Jan Sangh in 1973, and it merged into theJanata Party before the1977 general election. Following the Janata party's victory in the elections, Advani became the union minister forInformation and Broadcasting and leader of the house in Rajya Sabha.
In 1980, Lal Krishna was one of the founding members of the BJP along withAtal Bihari Vajpayee and served as the president of the party three times. He was elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time in 1989 where he served seven terms. In 1992, he was alleged to have been part of theDemolition of the Babri Masjid, but was acquitted by the courts due to lack of evidence. Following the same, he was one of the chief proponents of the movement to build atemple over thedisputedRam Janmabhoomi site inAyodhya and the subsequent rise ofHindutva, a Hindu nationalist ideology, in the late 1990s. He has served as leader of opposition in both the houses. He was the minister of home affairs from 1998 to 2004 and deputy prime minister from 2002 to 2004. He served in theIndian parliament until 2019 and is credited for rise of BJP as a major political party. In 2015, he was awarded thePadma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian honour and in 2024, he was conferred withBharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour.[4]
Advani was born on 8 November 1927 inKarachi,British India, in aSindhi HinduLohana family[5][6][7] to Kishanchand D. Advani and Gyani Devi.[8]
Advani was educated atSt. Patrick's High School, Karachi, andD. G. National College inHyderabad, Sindh.[9] His family was forced to fleeSindh and came to India during thepartition of India and settled inMumbai, where he graduated in law from theGovernment Law College.[10][11]
Advani married Kamla Advani in February 1965, and had a son, Jayant, and a daughter,Pratibha.[12] Pratibha is a television producer and also supports her father in his political activities.[13] His wife died on 6 April 2016 due to old age.[14] Advani resides in Delhi.[15]
Advani joined theRashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in 1941 at the age of fourteen.[16] He became apracharak (full-time worker) conductingshakhas and became the secretary of the Karachi unit in 1947.[17] After the partition of India, Advani was a pracharak inRajasthan working acrossAlwar,Bharatpur,Kota,Bundi andJhalawar districts until 1952.[18]
Advani became a member of theBharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS), a political party founded in 1951 bySyama Prasad Mookerjee in collaboration with the RSS. He was appointed as the secretary toS. S. Bhandari, then general secretary of the Jan Sangh in Rajasthan. In 1957, he moved toDelhi and became the general secretary and later, president of the Delhi unit of the Jana Sangh. From 1966 to 1967 he served as the leader of BJS in theDelhi Metropolitan Council (DMC). After the1967 Delhi Metropolitan Council election, he was elected as the chairman of the council and served till 1970.[10][19] He also assistedK. R. Malkani with the publication ofOrganiser, the weekly newsletter of the RSS and became a member of its national executive in 1966.[18]
In 1970, Advani became a member of theRajya Sabha from Delhi for the six-year tenure.[20] In 1973, he was elected as the president of BJS at theKanpur session of the party working committee meeting.[10]
Advani was reelected to the Rajya Sabha fromGujarat in 1976 for the second time.[20] After the imposition ofThe Emergency and a crackdown on opposition parties by then-prime minister,Indira Gandhi, BJS and other opposition parties merged to form theJanata Party.[21] In the1977 election, the Janata Party won a landslide victory due to the widespread unpopularity of the state of emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi.[22]Morarji Desai became the prime minister with Advani becoming theMinister of Information and Broadcasting.[23] The government did not complete its five year term and was dissolved to call fresh elections in1980 where Janata party lost to theIndian National Congress.[24][25] Subsequently, Advani became theleader of opposition in Rajya Sabha.[10]
On 6 April 1980, Advani along with few of the erstwhile members of the Jana Sangh quit the Janata Party and formed theBharatiya Janata Party withAtal Bihari Vajpayee as the first president.[26] Though the previous government lasted briefly from 1977 till 1980 and was marred with factional wars, the period saw a rise in support for the RSS which culminated into the formation of the BJP.[27] In 1982, he was elected to the Rajya Sabha for the third time fromMadhya Pradesh representing the BJP.[20] BJP won only two seats in the1984 election with the Congress winning a landslide on the back of a sympathy wave due to theassassination of Indira Gandhi. This failure led to a shift in the party's stance with Advani being appointed party president and the BJP turning toHindutva ideology of Jana Sangh.[28]
Under Advani, BJP became the political face of theAyodhya dispute over theRam Janmabhoomi site when theVishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) began a movement for the construction of a temple dedicated to the Hindu deityRama at the site of theBabri Masjid inAyodhya.[29] The dispute centered on the basis of the belief that the site was the birthplace of Rama, and that a temple once stood there that had been demolished by theMughal emperorBabur with theArchaeological Survey of India (ASI) supporting the claim.[30][31] BJP supported the campaign and made it a part of their election manifesto for the1989 elections, helping it win 86 seats with Advani getting elected to theLok Sabha for the first time. Advani became theleader of opposition in Lok Sabha whenVP Singh formed theNational Front government.[32]
Advani often organisedrath yatras or processions to boost the popularity of the BJP and unify Hindutva ideology. He organised sixrath yatras across the country with the first one in 1990.[33]
In 1990, Advani embarked onRam Rath Yatra, a procession with a chariot to mobilise volunteers for Ram Janmabhoomi movement. The procession began fromSomnath in Gujarat and headed to converge at Ayodhya.[42] In the1991 general election, the BJP became the second largest party after the Congress with Advani winning for the second time fromGandhinagar and becoming the leader of opposition again.[43] In 1992,Babri Masjid was demolished with Advani alleged to have delivered a provocative speech prior to the demolition.[44][45][46] Advani was among the accused in the demolition case but was acquitted on 30 September 2020 by aCBI special court.[47][48] In the judgement, it was mentioned that the demolition was not pre-planned and that Advani was trying to stop the mob and not incite them.[49][50]
In the1996 general election, the BJP became the single largest party and was consequently invited by thepresident to form the government. Advani did not contest the elections over allegations of involvement in theHawala scandal, and resigned his seat on 16 January 1996,[51] but was later cleared of charges by theSupreme Court.[52][53] While Vajpayee was sworn in as prime minister in May 1996, the government collapsed after just thirteen days.[54]
In the1998 general election, the BJP-ledNational Democratic Alliance (NDA), came to power with Vajpayee returning as prime minister in March 1998.[55] Advani was elected to the Lok Sabha for the third term and became theHome Minister.[10] However, the government again collapsed after only thirteen months whenAll Indian Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) underJ. Jayalalithaa withdrew its support to the government.[55] With fresh elections being called, the BJP-led NDA again won a majority in the1999 general election and Advani won from Gandhinagar for a fourth term. He assumed the office of Home Minister and was later elevated to the position ofDeputy Prime Minister in 2002.[56][57]
In the2004 general election, the BJP suffered a defeat withUnited Progressive Alliance led by the Congress coming to power, withManmohan Singh as prime minister.[58] Advani won his fifth term to the Lok Sabha and became the leader of opposition.[59][60] Vajpayee retired from active politics after the 2004 defeat, promoting Advani to lead the BJP.[61] In June 2005, while on a visit to Karachi, Advani describedMohammad Ali Jinnah as a secular leader, which led to criticism from the RSS. Advani was forced to resign as BJP president but withdrew the resignation a few days later.[62] In April 2005, RSS chiefK. S. Sudarshan opined that Advani should step aside.[63] At the silver jubilee celebrations of the BJP inMumbai in December 2005, Advani stepped down as party president andRajnath Singh fromUttar Pradesh was elected in his place. In March 2006, following a bomb blast at a Hindu shrine atVaranasi, Advani undertook aBharata Suraksha Yatra ('Sojourn for National Security'), to highlight the alleged failure of the ruling United Progressive Alliance in combating terrorism.[64]
In December 2006, Advani stated that as the leader of the opposition in a parliamentary democracy, he considered himself the Prime Ministerial candidate for the next general elections in May 2009.[65] While not everyone was supportive of his candidacy, Vajpayee endorsed Advani's candidacy.[66] On 2 May 2007, BJP President Rajnath Singh stated that Advani is the natural choice for the next prime minister if BJP won the next elections.[67] On 10 December 2007, the Parliamentary Board of BJP formally announced that L. K. Advani would be its prime ministerial candidate for the general elections due in 2009.[68]
Though Advani won his sixth term in Lok Sabha, the BJP lost to Congress and its allies in the2009 general elections, allowing then incumbent Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to continue in office. Following the defeat in the elections, L. K. Advani handed over the position of leader of opposition toSushma Swaraj.[69][70] He was elected working chairman of theNational Democratic Alliance in 2010.[71] Advani contested the2014 general election from Gandhinagar, winning for the fifth consecutive time. Later he was part of theMarg Darshak Mandal (vision committee) of the BJP along withMurli Manohar Joshi andAtal Bihari Vajpayee.[72]
| Year | Constituency | Party | Votes | % | Opponent | Opponent party | Opponent votes | % | Result | Margin | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | New Delhi | BJP | 129,256 | 55.54 | V. Mohini Giri | INC | 97,415 | 41.85 | Won | 31,841 | 13.69 | ||
| 1991 | 93,662 | 43.4 | Rajesh Khanna | 92,073 | 42.66 | Won | 1,589 | 0.74 | |||||
| Gandhinagar | 356,902 | 57.97 | G. I. Patel | 231,223 | 37.56 | Won | 125,679 | 20.41 | |||||
| 1998 | 541,340 | 59.86 | P. K. Datta | 264,639 | 29.26 | Won | 276,701 | 30.6 | |||||
| 1999 | 453,299 | 61.14 | T. N. Seshan | 264,285 | 35.65 | Won | 189,014 | 25.49 | |||||
| 2004 | 516,120 | 61.04 | Gabhaji Mangaji Thakor | 298,982 | 35.36 | Won | 217,138 | 25.68 | |||||
| 2009 | 434,044 | 54.89 | Sureshkumar Chaturdas Patel | 312,297 | 39.49 | Won | 121,747 | 15.4 | |||||
| 2014 | 773,539 | 68.12 | Kiritbhai Ishvarbhai Patel | 290,418 | 25.58 | Won | 483,121 | 42.54 | |||||
| Election | Party | Constituency | From | To | Tenure | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | ABJS | Delhi | 3 April 1970 | 2 April 1976 | 5 years, 365 days | |
| 1976 | Gujarat | 3 April 1976 | 2 April 1982 | 5 years, 364 days | ||
| 1982 | BJP | Madhya Pradesh | 3 April 1982 | 2 April 1988 | 5 years, 365 days | |
| 1988 | 3 April 1988 | 27 November 1989 | 1 year, 238 days | |||
| Position | Duration |
|---|---|
| Member,Joint Parliamentary Committee on Maintenance of Heritage Character and Development of Parliament House Complex | October 2014 – May 2019 |
| Chairperson, Committee on Ethics | 15 September 2014 – 25 May 2019 |
| Member, Standing Committee on Information Technology | 1 September 2014 – 25 May 2019 |
| Member,Committee on Public Undertakings | August 2014 – May 2019 |
| Member,16th Lok Sabha | June 2014 – May 2019 (7th term) |
| Member, Joint Parliamentary Committee on Maintenance of Heritage Character and Development of Parliament House Complex | December 2009 |
| Member,Standing Committee on Home Affairs | August 2009 |
| Member, Committee on Installation of Portraits/Statues of National Leaders and Parliamentarians in Parliament House Complex | August 2009 |
| Leader of Opposition, Lok Sabha | May–December 2009 |
| Member,15th Lok Sabha | Re-elected in 2009 (6th term) |
| Member, Standing Committee on Home Affairs | August 2006 – May 2009 |
| Leader of Opposition, Lok Sabha | Unspecified |
| Member, 14th Lok Sabha | Re-elected in 2004 (5th term) |
| Minister, Personnel, Pensions and Public Grievances (additional charge) | January 2003 – May 2004 |
| Minister, Coal and Mines (additional charge) | July–August 2002 |
| Deputy Prime Minister | June 2002 – May 2004 |
| Minister, Home Affairs | October 1999 – May 2004 |
| Member,13th Lok Sabha | Re-elected in 1999 (4th term) |
| Chairman, Committee on Official Language | Unspecified |
| Minister, Home Affairs | 1998–1999 |
| Member,12th Lok Sabha | Re-elected in 1998 (3rd term) |
| President,BJP | 1993–1998 |
| Leader of Opposition, Lok Sabha | 1991–1993 |
| Member,10th Lok Sabha | Re-elected in 1991 (2nd term) |
| Chairman, Committee of Parliament on Pay and Allowances | April–May 1990 |
| Chairman, Committee to Review the Lok Sabha Secretariat | 1990–1991 |
| Leader of Opposition, Lok Sabha | Unspecified |
| Leader, BJP parliamentary party, Lok Sabha | 1989–1991 |
| Member,9th Lok Sabha | Elected in 1989 |
| Member,Rajya Sabha | Re-elected in 1988 (4th term) |
| President, BJP | 1986–1991 |
| Member, Rajya Sabha | Re-elected in 1982 (3rd term) |
| Leader, BJP, Rajya Sabha | Unspecified |
| General Secretary, BJP | 1980–1986 |
| Leader of Opposition, Rajya Sabha | January–April 1980 |
| Minister,Ministry of Information and Broadcasting | 1977–1979 |
| Leader of the House, Rajya Sabha | March 1977 – August 1979 |
| General Secretary,Janata Party | 1977–1980 |
| Member, Rajya Sabha | Re-elected in 1976 (2nd term) |
| Leader,BJS, Rajya Sabha | 1974–1976 |
| President, BJS | 1973–1977 |
| Member, Rajya Sabha | Elected in 1970 |
| President, BJS, Delhi | 1970–1972 |
| Chairman,Delhi Metropolitan Council | 1967–1970 |
| Leader, BJS, Interim Metropolitan Council | 1966–1967 |
| Secretary,RSS, Karachi | 1947 |
India:
Bharat Ratna (9 February 2024)[73]
Padma Vibhushan (2015)[74]BJP leader L.K. Advani, in his autobiography My Country, My Life (2008), writes: "The Advani family belonged to the Amil branch of Sindhi Hindus. Traditionally, the Amil was a revenue official who assisted munshis in the administrative set-up of Muslim kings. It was one of the two main divisions of the Lohano clan which was linked to the Vaishya (business) community. In time, Amils came to dominate government jobs and professions in Sindh."
L.K. Advani is different, and from the same Lohana caste as Jinnah.
Incidentally, BJP's LK Advani is a Sindhi-speaking Amil from the Lohana caste.
Shri L. K. Advani who was the chairman of the Metropolitan Council, was elected as member of the Rajya Sabha in the last elections and his seat has fallen vacant in the Council. He was from the Jan Sangh Party.
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| Preceded by | Minister of Home Affairs 1998–2004 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Deputy Prime Minister of India 2002–04 | Vacant |
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