On Saturday, PM Modi announced that Lal Krishna Advani (LK Advani) will be conferred with India's Highest Civilian Honour Bharat Ratna. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on his official X handle that LK Advani will be conferred with Bharat Ratna and called him, 'One of the most respected statesmen'. Not only this, PM Modi lavished his praise on LK Advani saying that 'his contribution to the development of India is monumental'. Apart from being BJP's stalwart, LK Advani also served as India's Deputy Prime Minister from 2002 to 2004 under the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. Notably, LK Advani's life has been full of ups and downs. There was a time when LK Advani was given the tag 'Prime Minister in waiting' as the saffron party may have tossed his name as the party's face. However, Advani's one mistake cost him dearly. Below are the top 5 controversies linked to LK Advani-
1) LK Advani's visit to Mohammed Ali Jinnah's tomb
L.K. Advani visited the mausoleum of Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, in Karachi in 2005. This was his first engagement upon arrival in Karachi, which was his birthplace. In fact, L K Advani also offered 'chadar' at Jinnah's tomb in Pakistan. Talking to reporters a Samajwadi Party (SP) leader asked Uttar Pradesh Parliamentary Affairs Minister Anand Swaroop Shukla he should first read the history of his party.
2) LK Advani's praise for Jinnah
During his visit to Pakistan, Advani had praised Jinnah and called him a secular leader. Jinnah, who became became the Governor-General of Pakistan after partition, died in September 1948. Advani's praise of Jinnah in 2005 had cost him- the longest serving BJP president -- his job as the party chief eventually and, many believe, it caused a permanent strain in his relations with the RSS from which he could never recover. As a result, he never came back in contention for PM face of the BJP party.
3) LK Advani's arrest
It was Lalu Prasad's government that arrested LK Advani, along with the president of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Ashok Singhal, in Bihar's Samastipur district on October 23, 1990. LK Advani's Rath Yatra had till then enjoyed a free run across the states during its journey from Somnath in Gujarat, from where it took off on September 25, 1990. It was scheduled to reach Ayodhya on October 30. However, when their Rath entered Bihar, they were arrested on the direction of then CM Lalu Prasad Yadav.
4) Tension between Vidhu Vinod Chopra and LK Advani
12th Fail Director Vidhu Vinod Chopra once argued with politician LK Advani over Rs 4,000, on-stage at the National Film Awards ceremony, in the presence of the President of India. In an interview, Vidhu Vinod recently narrated the incident, which happened when he came to the national capital to receive his first-ever National Award. At the time, Advani was serving as the Minister of Information and Broadcasting and Neelam Sanjiva Reddy was the President of the country.
5) LK Advani, BJP's face of the Ram Janmbhoomi Campaign
Under Advani, BJP became the political face of the Ayodhya dispute over the Ram Janmabhoomi site when the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) begun a movement for the construction of a temple dedicated to the Hindu deity Rama at the site of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya. However, the Pran Pratishtha that took place in January 2024 was done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and LK Advani did not attend the event.