Veteran BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani discharged from AIIMS

Bharat Ratna and veteran Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader LK Advani

Former deputy prime minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stalwart Lal Krishna Advani was discharged from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on Thursday after he was admitted to the medical facility last night.

The 96-year-old veteran leader was evaluated by a team of doctors from different specialities including urology, cardiology and geriatric medicine. Advani was admitted for old age-related issues at old private ward of AIIMS around 10.30 pm on Wednesday.

According to news agency PTI, the BJP stalwart is learnt to have undergone a minor procedure. "Advani was admitted for old age-related issues and has been discharged," the AIIMS official said.

According to the hospital sources, Advani was in stable condition and was kept under observation.

Who is LK Advani?

Born in Karachi (present-day Pakistan) on November 8, 1927, LK Advani was recently conferred with Bharat Ratna by President Draupadi Murmu on March 30, 2024.

Advani started his political journey by joining Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as a swayamsevak in 1942. He began his parliamentary career in 1970 when he was elected to the Rajya Sabha. He contested his first Lok Sabha election in 1989 from New Delhi, defeating Mohini Giri.

He also served as the BJP president from 1986 to 1990, then from 1993 to 1998, and from 2004 to 2005. Advani had served as the president of the party for the longest period since its inception in 1980.

Advani catapulted the BJP into national reckoning with his Rath Yatra for Ayodhya’s Ram Temple in the early 1990s. On December 6, 1992, karsevaks brought down the 16th century Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, triggering widespread riots across the country. Twenty eight years later, Advani along with 31 other people were acquitted by a CBI court in a case pertaining to the mosque's demolition.

Spanning a parliamentary career of nearly three decades, Advani was first the home minister and, later, the deputy prime minister in the cabinet of Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government (1999-2004).

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