ADVANI, LAL KRISHNA

(b. Nov. 8, 1929, Karachi [now in Pakistan]), veteran parliamentarian and founder member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Appointed twice as the Union Home Minister in the BJP-led coalition government (1998 and 1999), in 2002 he was nominated as the Deputy Prime Minister of India. In 2004, he became the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha. He is largely responsible for resurrecting and strengthening the party. From being virtually non-existent on the political map of India in the early 1980s, the party has emerged as one of the strongest political forces in India.

Advani completed his initial education from St. Patrick's High School, Karachi, and D.G. National College, Hyderabad (Sind), and then moved on to Government Law College, Bombay, to study law. He joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, and took charge of its activities in Rajasthan in 1947. When Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee founded the Jana Sangh (forerunner of the BJP) in 1951, Advani became the Secretary of the party's unit first in Rajasthan and subsequently in 1970 of the Delhi unit.

In 1970, Advani became a member of the Rajya Sabha (Upper House of Parliament) and continued to hold the seat till 1989. During this period, he was elected president of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS) in 1973 and continued at the helm till 1977, relinquishing the post when he was appointed information and broadcasting minister in the Janata Party-led coalition government headed by Morarji Desai. During his ministerial tenure, he abolished press censorship, repealed all anti-press legislation enacted during the Emergency and institutionalized reforms to safeguard the freedom of the media. In the Prasar Bharati (Broadcasting Corporation of India) Bill presented to the Parliament during his tenure, he sought autonomy for Doordarshan and All India Radio.  

The collapse of the Desai government led to the breakdown of the BJS and a large number of its members - led by Advani and Atal Behari Vajpayee formed a new political party, the BJP, in 1980. To popularize the party and make the masses aware of its agenda, Advani undertook a series of rath yatras (processions) traversing the length and breadth of the country in the 1990s. Working to broaden its electoral base, the party adopted a more moderate, secular agenda in the mid-1990s. This strategy was largely responsible for the BJP's success in the parliamentary elections in 1998 and 1999.  

Advani served as deputy prime minister in the Vajpayee government until their general election defeat in May 2004. Since then he has been leader of the opposition in the Parliament. Known for his formidable -organizing skills, Advani is credited with scripting the BJP's meteoric rise as a political force.