New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday announced that BJP stalwart and former deputy prime minister L K Advani will be conferred the Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian award.
"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," Modi said on X. The prime minister said he is very happy to share that Advani (96) will be conferred the honour.
The Prime Minister said the conferring of the Bharat Ratna on Advani is a very "emotional moment for me". Advani's parliamentary interventions have always been exemplary and full of rich insights, Modi said.
"Advani Ji's decades-long service in public life has been marked by an unwavering commitment to transparency and integrity, setting an exemplary standard in political ethics. He has made unparalleled efforts towards furthering national unity and cultural resurgence," he said.
"The conferring of the Bharat Ratna on him is a very emotional moment for me. I will always consider it my privilege that I got countless opportunities to interact with him and learn from him," he said.
Modi spoke to the BJP's longest-serving president, who is credited with crafting the party's rise through the 90s when it came to power for the first time as the head of coalition governments under Atal Bihari Vajpayee and congratulated him.
Meanwhile, after unveiling several projects in Odisha's Sambalpur, PM Modi said the decision to confer Bharat Ratna on BJP stalwart and former deputy prime minister Lal Krishna Advani is a testament to the fact that the county never forgets those who dedicate their lives in its service.
"Bharat Ratna to LK Advani ji is honour to ideology of nation first. Advani ji's works and services have been inspiring. This honour to Advani ji is a testament to the fact that the nation never forgets those who dedicate their lives in its service. I have been fortunate that I have been continuously receiving the love and guidance of Lal Krishna Advani ji," Modi said.
Born on November 8, 1927, Advani was the 7th Deputy Prime Minister of India. In fact, Advani should also be credited with having announced Vajpayee's name as the Prime Ministerial face during one of his election campaigns.
A pivot of the Ram Janmabhoomi Movement, Advani's famous Ram Rath Yatra in 1990 that triggered the Ram Temple movement. Often compared with former Union Home Minister Sardar Patel, Advani too enjoyed the sobriquet Iron Man.
The yatra and the mass appeal it drew boosted the party's vote share and made it the key challenger to the Congress, then the biggest national party.
The Bharat Ratna will be bestowed on Advani in a year of the Ram temple's consecration, which marks a triumphant closure for the BJP of an issue which was thrust into popular consciousness by the veteran leader through his 'Ram Rath Yatra'. in 1990.
Last month, the government had named the late Karpoori Thakur, a socialist stalwart and former Bihar chief minister, for the highest honour. If the recognition for Thakur years after he passed away in 1988 was seen by many political experts as part of the BJP's push to deepen its roots among the economically backward classes (EBC), a category from which he came from, the honour for Advani is being seen as an ode to his instrumental role in shaping the party's core ideology which has come to dominate the country's polity under Modi. (With PTI Inputs)
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