Watch | PM Modi visits BJP veteran L K Advani on his 95th birthday

#WATCH | Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the residence of veteran BJP leader LK Advani to greet him on his birthday.

(Source: DD) pic.twitter.com/CXGstXfcoU

— ANI (@ANI) November 8, 2022

Meanwhile, Home Minister Amit Shah said Advani, with his relentless efforts, strengthened the party organisation across the country and also made an invaluable contribution to the country’s development while being part of the government. Shah wished him good health and long life.

Union minister Nitin Gadkari called Advani a source of inspiration.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar tweeted, “Warm birthday greetings to revered Shri LK Advani ji. His many contributions and services to the nation will always keep inspiring us. Pray for his healthy and long life.”

N Chandrababu Naidu, President of the Telugu Desam Party, Union Ministers Hardeep Singh Puri and Kiren Rijiju were among others who took to social media to convey their wishes.

Born in 1927 in Karachi, now part of Pakistan, Advani joined the RSS at a young age and later worked for Jana Sangh where he made a mark with his organisational abilities.

He was a founding member of the Bharatiya Janata Party in 1980 and was its face along with former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for several decades.

A keen strategist, Advani’s ‘Rath Yatra’ in 1990 in support of building the Ram temple in Ayodhya at a site believed to be the birth place of Lord Ram is seen as an epochal turn in national politics, marking the unstoppable rise of the party to power.

While Vajpayee, the popular face of the party who enjoyed acceptability beyond its support base, became prime minister, Advani was home minister. He became deputy prime minister later.

(with PTI inputs)