Lal Krishna Advani Biography

About

Lal Krishna Advani is a renowned Indian politician and former President of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He is also a former Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister to the Government of India during 1998-2004. He was the Opposition Leader in the 10th and 14th Lok Sabha, the lower house of Parliament.

Personal Life

L.K. Advani was born on November 8, 1927 in Karachi (in present-day Pakistan) to Kishanchand D Advani and Gyani Devi. He completed his formal education from Saint Patrick’s High School in Karachi and D.G. National College in Hyderabad Sindh, moving on to graduate in Law from Government Law College, Bombay.

He married Kamla Advani in February, 1965, and they have two children, son Jayant and daughter Pratibha. His wife passed away on April 6, 2016.

Political Career

L.K Advani started his political career when he was elected as the Secretary of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Over the next few years, Advani was appointed as a member of Bharatiya Jana Sangh party with various roles and was finally elected as its President.

In the course of time, the Jana Sangh party united with other political parties to become the Janata Party. The Janata Party came to power and Advani became the Minister of Information and Broadcasting. However, hostility within the party led to the creation of the Bharatiya Janata Party with L.K. Advani representing the party in Rajya Sabha.

In 1986, Advani was appointed as the president of BJP. He changed the face of BJP and propelled the party to greater heights. In 1998, BJP came back with a bang with alliance governance of NDA. L.K. Advani was appointed as the Deputy Prime Minister. In 2004, the NDA was thrown out of power in the assembly elections.

L.K. Advani always desired to become the Prime Minister and has also contested for the post several times. However, when the Indian National Congress won in the last assembly elections, his aspiration to be the Prime Minister was crushed. Soon, he gave up the position of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha to Sushma Swaraj.

On June 10, 2013, he resigned from all the posts he held in the BJP, expressing his resentment over Narendra Modi’s elevation. So far his resignation hasn’t been accepted by the Bharatiya Janata Party. In 2014, he was included in the Marg Darshak Mandal of the BJP along with Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Murli Manohar Joshi.

Positions

Chairman of Metropolitan Council, Delhi, 1967-70
President of Bharatiya Jana Sangh, Delhi, 1970-72
Member of Rajya Sabha (four terms), 1970-89
President of Jana Sangh, 1973-77
General-Secretary of Janata Party, 1977
Union Cabinet Minister of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, 1977-79
Leader of the House, Rajya Sabha, 1977-79
General Secretary, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), 1980-86
Leader, BJP, Rajya Sabha, 1980-86
President of BJP, 1986-91
Elected to 9th Lok Sabha (1st term) New Delhi,1989
Leader of Opposition, Lok Sabha, 1989-91
Leader of Opposition, Lok Sabha, 1991-93
Elected to 10th Lok Sabha (2nd term), 1991
President of Bharatiya Janata Party, 1993-98
Elected to 12th Lok Sabha (3rd term), 1998
Union Cabinet Minister, Home Affairs, 1998-99
Elected to 13th Lok Sabha (4th term), 1999
Union Cabinet Minister, Home Affairs, 1999-2004
Deputy Prime Minister of India, 2002-2004
Union Cabinet Minister, Coal and Mines, 2002
Elected to 14th Lok Sabha (5th term), 2004
Elected to 15th Lok Sabha (6th term), 2009
Elected to 16th Lok Sabha (7th term), 2014