In a historic milestone marking seven decades of service to Indian democracy, founding pillar of the Bharatiya Janata Party, former Deputy Prime Minister, and Bharat Ratna recipient Lal Krishna Advani stepped into the hundredth year of his life on Sunday, November 8, 2026. Marking the auspicious centenary year, which coincided with the celebrations of Deepavali, the party leadership organized religious ceremonies, ceremonial pujas, and traditional havans at the central BJP headquarters in New Delhi. Party leaders, cabinet ministers, and grassroots workers converged to offer prayers for the long life, sound health, and peace of mind of the veteran statesman. Leading the national tributes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi penned an essay on his personal platform, detailing Advani’s resilience, his ideological discipline, and his role in transforming the Bharatiya Janata Party from a peripheral parliamentary entity into a dominant national force. Accompanied by family members, including his daughter Pratibha Advani, and key organizational figures, the event served as a celebration of an extraordinary public life that mirrored the transformative political history of independent India.

Sacred Havans and Centenary Tributes at BJP Central Headquarters

The atmosphere at the central party headquarters on Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Marg was charged with solemnity and festive devotion as senior functionaries gathered for special Vedic rituals. Priests performed ceremonial havans and chanted sacred Sanskrit hymns to seek divine blessings for Advani’s continuous well-being as he crossed his 99th birthday and embarked on his 100th year.

The commemorative proceedings highlighted the institutional reverence held for the veteran:

• Presence of Family and Party Leadership: The prayer ceremony was attended by Advani’s daughter, Pratibha Advani, alongside party president Nitin Nabin, Union cabinet ministers, and senior party functionaries.

• Special Video Retrospective: The party screened an exclusive 20-minute documentary chronicling Advani’s monumental socio-political journey, showcasing his early days as an RSS pracharak, his parliamentary debates, his time in prison during the Emergency, and his decisive stewardship of the Union Home Ministry.

• Official Party Resolution: In an official statement released on the occasion, the BJP emphasized that the life, personal probity, and ideology of stalwarts like Advani serve as an enduring moral guide for future generations of public servants and organizational workers.

PM Modi Hails Advani’s Legacy: 'Building from Scratch Without Bitterness'

In a personal essay published on his website and across major national dailies, Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered reflections on the veteran leader’s life and character. Modi observed that two distinct intellectual qualities consistently set Advani apart: his remarkable ideological clarity and his incisive intellectual sharpness. The Prime Minister noted that these virtues were visible not only in his parliamentary debates and books, such as My Country My Life, but also in the foundational resolutions he drafted for the Bharatiya Jana Sangh and the BJP.

Recalling the trauma of Partition in 1947, when a young Advani had to leave behind his ancestral homeland in Sindh, Prime Minister Modi emphasized that Advani rebuilt his entire life from scratch without carrying bitterness. That intrinsic ability to construct, persevere, and expand against formidable odds became the cornerstone of his organizational genius. The Prime Minister pointed out that during Advani’s tenure as BJP president, the political landscape shifted dramatically—the Congress fell from over 400 seats to below 200 in the 1989 general elections, and the BJP expanded rapidly to emerge as the single largest party in Parliament for the first time in 1996. Modi recalled his personal association with Advani during the 1991 Gandhinagar parliamentary campaign, where he helped file the veteran leader's nomination papers and managed constituency work, describing Advani’s work ethic and attentiveness toward voters as an enduring masterclass in democratic representation.

Architects of Political Change: The Historic Vajpayee-Advani Partnership

A major theme echoed by political analysts and party colleagues was the historic partnership between Lal Krishna Advani and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Starting from their formative years under the guidance of Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee and Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya in the Jana Sangh, the two leaders maintained an enduring partnership that lasted more than five decades. In his essay, Prime Minister Modi observed that it is exceptionally rare in global and Indian political history for two towering leaders to work in tandem for decades without descending into factional competition.

While Vajpayee provided charismatic mass appeal and poetic statesmanship, Advani built the administrative architecture, managed cadre discipline, and articulated clear ideological positions that mobilized millions. When the internal Emergency was imposed in 1975, Advani spent nineteen months behind bars, emerging as a steadfast defender of civil liberties and press independence. Together, the duo co-founded the Bharatiya Janata Party in April 1980, transforming a fledgling two-seat parliamentary outfit into a formidable governing coalition by the late 1990s.

National Leaders Pay Homage: High Standards of Integrity and Governance

Tributes poured in from senior cabinet figures and political stalwarts across the nation, honoring Advani’s seven decades of public service:

• Union Home Minister Amit Shah: Described Advani as a "symbol of selfless service to the nation, the chief architect of the BJP, and a principled statesman" whose uncompromising dedication to national security and democratic principles laid the groundwork for contemporary governance.

• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh: Praised the centenarian for setting unmatched standards of moral integrity, administrative decorum, and decisive leadership throughout his tenure as Union Home Minister and Deputy Prime Minister.

• Party President Nitin Nabin: Referred to Advani as an eternal guiding light for millions of party karyakartas, affirming that his lifelong commitment to the philosophy of "Nation First, Party Next, Self Last" remains the foundational compass for the organization.

• Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal: Hailed the veteran leader as an extraordinary embodiment of loyalty to the country, steadfastness in constitutional values, and selfless dedication to public welfare.

From Somnath to Ayodhya: Awakening Cultural Consciousness

Any retrospective on Advani’s monumental career remains incomplete without recalling the historic 1990 Ram Rath Yatra, which traveled from Somnath in Gujarat toward Ayodhya. Leaders recalled how that socio-cultural mobilization awakened cultural consciousness across the country and reshaped the political discourse around Indian secularism and heritage. Prime Minister Modi, who was actively involved in coordinating the Gujarat leg of the yatra, noted that Advani’s focus on the Ram Mandir movement went beyond political calculations, establishing cultural pride as an integral part of national development.

Having been conferred the Bharat Ratna—India’s highest civilian honor—by President Droupadi Murmu, Lal Krishna Advani stands as an elder statesman whose life represents institutional stability, personal austerity, and public probity. As special prayers, tree-planting drives, and community feasts took place in several state capitals, party cadres celebrated not merely a 100th birthday milestone, but an inspiring journey that helped define the rise and destiny of contemporary India.