PM Modi announces LK Advani to be honoured with Bharat Ratna

New Delhi: Former Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani will receive the Bharat Ratna, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday. Advani is a BJP stalwart and a founding member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Advani, 96, was born on November 8, 1927, and served as India's seventh Deputy Prime Minister from 2002 to 2004. He is the longest-serving Minister of Home Affairs, serving from 1998 until 2004. In addition, he is the Lok Sabha's longest-serving opposition leader. He was the BJP's prime ministerial candidate in the 2009 general election.

The Prime Minister took to his personal X handle to announce the highest civilian award for LK Advani and informed that he also congratulated the party veteran on being conferred with the nation’s highest civilian honour.

"I am very happy to share that LK Advani will be conferred the Bharat Ratna. I also spoke to him and congratulated him on being conferred this honour..," PM Narendra Modi tweeted.

Notably, Bharat Ratna is the nation’s highest civilian award, given as a mark of recognition for exceptional & distinguished service.

Showering praises on the towering stature & exemplary leadership of BJP patriarch, PM Modi wrote, “One of the most respected statesmen of our times, his contribution to the development of India is monumental. His is a life that started from working at the grassroots to serving the nation as our Deputy Prime Minister. He distinguished himself as our Home Minister and IB Minister as well.”

Advani is widely credited as one of the tallest leaders who scripted BJP’s rise from ‘oblivion to prominence’. It was after his Rath Yatra in the 1990s that catapulted the saffron party into national politics.

For the unversed, LK Advani is the second BJP stalwart to be conferred with Bharat Ratna. Prior to him, former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was also honoured with Bharat Ratna in 2015.

With inputs from IANS