Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said, Lal Krishna Advani gave the Bharatiya Janata Party BJP a clear foundation rooted in the principle of Nation First. In an article in leading dailies on the former Deputy Prime Minister and BJP patriarch who turns 99 today, Mr Modi said, two qualities set Mr Advani apart as a leader, his ideological clarity and intellectual sharpness, and the manner in which he challenged the pseudo-secularism propounded by a large section of the political class for years.

 

Mr Modi credited Mr Advani’s tenures as BJP president with the Congress falling sharply from 400 seats to below 200 in 1989 and emerging as the single largest party for the first time in 1996.

 

Recalling the 1991 Lok Sabha elections, Mr Modi said, Mr Advani contested from two seats, one of them was Gandhinagar. The Prime Minister said, he had helped prepare Mr Advani’s nomination papers and assisted in the campaign. He said, as one of the country’s longest-serving home ministers, Mr Advani strengthened the security apparatus, worked to improve the lives of security personnel and ensured the country got a tough anti-terror law. Mr Modi described the Somnath-to-Ayodhya Rath Yatra of Mr Advani as an iconic moment that changed Indian society for the better. Beyond politics, the tribute highlighted Mr Advani’s simplicity and probity. 

 

Mr Modi said, as Mr Advani enters the hundredth year of his life, he pray that the veteran leader be blessed with good health and continues to inspire all as he has always done.