A new book reveals that Atal Bihari Vajpayee rejected an offer to become President of India, a move that would have made Lal Krishna Advani Prime Minister. Vajpayee believed that a sitting PM becoming President would set a bad precedent for Indian democracy.
The 96-year-old former deputy prime minister was brought to the hospital about two days ago.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Nitin Nabin on his election as the BJP national president and declared that the young leader will be his boss in matters related to the party.
Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Saturday lauded the organisational power of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-Bharatiya Janata Party as he shared Narendra Modi's old picture and said how a grassroots worker went on to become the chief minister and prime minister by sitting at the feet of their leaders.
"Advani was admitted for old age-related issues and has been discharged," the AIIMS official said.
Nitin Nabin, a five-time Bihar MLA, has been elected unopposed as the BJP national president, becoming the youngest person to hold the position. His appointment signals a generational shift in the party's leadership as it prepares for key state elections.
The 96-year-old leader, the longest serving president of the BJP, said ever since he joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as its volunteer at the age of 14 years he has sought reward in only one thing "in dedicated and selfless service of my beloved country in whatever task life assigned to me".
'The move to appoint a person with a profile, markedly lower than the leader Nitin Nabin will replace, has the potential to put the brakes on the careers of several others in the party and government in the positions they currently hold,' points out Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Both Advani and Joshi said that they will make "every effort" to join the ceremony to be held on January 22, Kumar said in a statement.
'I disagree with much of Modi's politics, but it cannot be denied that in these years in office, he has carved more than a niche for himself in history,' points out Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, author, Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times.
Atal (Bihari Vajpayee), Advani and Joshi have contributed a lot for the BJP to reach where it is now, he said.
The last Bharat Ratna award was conferred upon Pranab Mukherjee in 2019 and was posthumously awarded to Bhupendra Kumar Hazarika and Nanaji Deshmukh. The award was not given to anyone between 2020 and 2023.
Alok Kumar said that all the required medical facilities and other arrangements will be provided to Advani during his visit to the Pran Pratistha ceremony in Ayodhya.
Bharatiya Janata Party patriarch Lal Krishna Advani's letter apologising Congress President Sonia Gandhi for naming her family in the party task force's report on illegal Swiss bank accounts has set tongues wagging in the political circles. So what did Sonia say to Advani that he made him regret his remarks? This is the text of the letter the Congress President wrote to Advani dated February 15.
Bhartiya Janata Party leaders are quite upset over their leader Lal Krishna Advani rushing an apology letter to Congress President Sonia Gandhi without any consultations within the party. Though no one is ready to speak out on Advani regretting in response to Sonia Gandhi protesting at his party accusing her and her late husband Rajiv Gandhi had accounts in foreign banks, insiders said his letter has triggered a crisis in the party.
Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta called on Bharatiya Janata Party veteran Lal Kishenchand Advani at his residence in New Delhi.
The Bharat Ratna for him comes nine years after the honour was bestowed on former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The two leaders together spearheaded the journey of the Jana Sangh and then the BJP for over five decades.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah introduced bills in Lok Sabha addressing the removal of arrested PMs, CMs, and ministers, sparking opposition protests. Shah emphasized the need for public decision on whether leaders should govern from jail, criticizing the Congress party's stance on the matter.
Bhartiya Janata Party veteran leader Lal Krishna Advani on Saturday blasted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for putting up "indefensible defence" of bribery his Congress Party paid to survive the trust vote in the Lok Sabha in July 2008, in the wake of the WikiLeaks expose by citing the 2009 elections as the answer to the charge.
Bhartiya Janata Party patriarch Lal Krishna Advani took a dig at the prime minister's 48-year old communication advisor Pankaj Pachauri in his latest blog for his "stupidity" of trying to fix a Washington Post journalist who wrote Dr Manmohan Singh as "a tragic figure and a dithering, ineffectual bureaucrat presiding over a deeply corrupt government."
The election team of Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance's prime ministerial candidate Lal Krishna Advani has put on its thinking caps to conjure up the maximum number of audience for his campaign rallies.Prodyut Bora, the communication wizard who heads the party's IT Cell, is planning to capture Advani's recent spree of Vijay Sankalp rallies on camera and post it on the internet to attract a larger audience.
Advani's interview backing ties with the US highlights the rift withing the BJP on the issue.
Let there be no doubt that Modi in these 24 years so far has reshaped politics and governance considerably, if not completely, asserts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, author, Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times.
National Security Advisor M K Narayanan assured Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani that charges against the Mumbai Anti-Terrorism Squad probing the Malegaon blast case would be investigated, a BJP spokesman said in New Delhi.
'Met him this morning and sought his blessings'
A look at what the Bharatiya Janata Party veteran has been up to these days.
Bharatiya Janata Party patriarch Lal Krishna Advani on Tuesday pulled up the government for dragging its feet on the constitution of a special committee as commanded by the Supreme Court for interlinking of rivers -- an abandoned landmark decision of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government.
Bharatiya Janata Party veteran Lal Krishna Advani has hailed Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for his administrative skills, and said that the latter is ''a role model for chief ministers of other states''.
Bharatiya Janata Party patriarch Lal Krishna Advani on Monday said that the United Progressive Alliance government was in an unenviable mess 'of the Congress' own making'.
Dismissing opposition's claims that he was using his nationwide yatra to promote himself for the prime ministerial candidate, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Lal Krishna Advani on Friday said collective decisions are taken in his party which does not believe in dynastic politics.
L K Advani had no option but to strike now to ensure that Modi is not announced as the prime ministerial candidate under any circumstances before the general election, says Sheela Bhatt
Bhartiya Janata Party patriarch Lal Krishna Advani has picked up for his blog this week a new book by the US-based Morgan Stanley executive Ruchir Sharma that identifies "graft driven inflation" and "crony capitalism" among the weaknesses and difficulties that can be a damper for India's high expectations.
What did LK Advani tell Sonia Gandhi in his letter that has the BJP so worked up?
The spin doctors of Lal Krishna Advani, who, at the age of 81, is leading the Bharatiya Janata Party's campaign for the next year's Lok Sabha elections, are working on an image makeover for him--from a hardliner Hindutva archetype to a modern-day leader.
Neerja Chowdhury on Advani's latest book My Country My Life.
Rashriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat had the final word on the crisis that gripped the Bharatiya Janata Party since Lok Sabha polls, declaring not to allow any Delhi-based leader become the party president and asserting that Lal Krishna Advani would quit as Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha 'according to the schedule agreed by him.'
Former Lok Sabha speaker and Nationalist Congress Party leader P A Sangma met Bharatiya Janata Party veteran Lal Krishna Advani in New Delhi on Friday to seek support for his candidature for the coveted post of President of India.
India's former deputy prime minister and loh purush Lal Krishna Advani was hardly missed as the gathering latched on to every rhetoric that came from Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances