Shri. Swapan Dasgupta of Times of India commented "Not only did Advani release a flood of sublimated nationalist energy,..........it is the BJP that is putting itself forward as the natural inheritor of the stability platform." The Telegraph writes " His clarity of vision, precise statements and astute sense of timing played a major role in the BJP`s success." India Today notes, "...he is so un-confused that the clarity of his thought and its translation into action have served to un-confuse the BJP and propelled it into a dimension that has run traditional secularists and patriots like the old line socialists, congress Fabians and communists running back to defensive positions." Advani is credited with turning the BJP into a significant force in Indian politics. L.K Advani is known for his firm views on the issues of terrorism. He was widely regarded as the most powerful person in a country of over one billion people until only a couple of years ago. But the power he wielded is just one side of Lal Krishna Advani`s persona. While touring Pakistan, he made a peace-making remarks about Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan resulting in much controversy. Here after Advani, was forced to resign from his post as BJP President by the VHP for his remarks on Mohammed Ali Jinnah. His critics see him as a symbol of aggressive Hindu nationalism. A man who led a divisive campaign for building a Hindu temple in the northern town of Ayodhya.

L.K.Advani, the former President of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was born on 8th November 1927 to Kishichand D. Advani in Karachi, British India. His early schooling was at Saint Patrick`s High School, Karachi. He later joined the D.G. National College in Hyderabad, Sindh (now in Pakistan). He later graduated in Law from the Government Law College Bombay University. Though not a practicing lawyer, he argued on behalf of his party in 1974 before the Supreme Court in the Presidential reference whether election to the post of President could be held when the Gujarat Assembly was dissolved. He is married and has two children, a son and a daughter, Pratibha.

Advani joined the Rashtriya Sawamsevac Sangh in 1942 as the Sangh`s Karachi branch secretary. He was accused as an absconder in Mohammed Ali Jinnah murder conspiracy case still registered in a Pakistani Police File in Karachi, though the government has stated that no charges will be pressed. L.K Advani was actively involved in the Bharatiya Jana Sangh and was elected on the ticket of that party from 1970 to 1975. He went for the temporary confinement under the MISA act in Bangalore prison during the Emergency years (1975 to 1977). From 1970 to 1989, he was a member of the Rajya Sabha and held the post of Information and Broadcasting Minister in the Janata Party Government in 1977. in the year 1980 he was the leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha, upper house of the Indian Parliament. He was elected to Lok Sabha as the Leader of Opposition , the lower house of the Indian parliament in 1991 to 1993. he has served as the Home Minister in the Indian cabinet from 1998 to 2004. He became Deputy Prime Minister in the Indian cabinet from 1999 to 2004. Now he is holding the postion in the Lok Sabha from 2004.

The Ram Temple issue is the most controversial issue on which the BJP launched a decade-long movement led by Advani. Their demand was that temple dedicated to Lord Rama should be created on the spot where, according to their claim, a temple stood till Babar`s invasion of India in 1528. A mosque there was torn down by Hindu activists in 1992, sparking riots nationwide that cost 2,000 lives. According to Hindu Ayodhya is a very sacred place since Lord Ram was born there. The disputed mosque was believed to be built on the site of an earlier grand temple dedicated to Lord Ram. Advani said: "We must be candid enough to recognise the Hindu anger that exploded on the streets in the early 1990s has given way to a patient wait for the new temple whose construction, I feel is inevitable." - a promise which he failed to keep even after being elected to the post of deputy prime minister. Advani claimed that the demolition was the most agonising moment of his life in appearances before the Liberhan Commission, a judicial body set up to investigate the Babri incident.

After the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya on 6th December 1992, a police FIR was launched with the accusations of "inflammatory speeches to spread communal hatred". Amongst other BJP and RSS leaders, Advani was also named there. During his tenureship as Home Minister in the Indian cabinet in September 2003, a court in Rae Bareli discharged L.K Advani in the case. A high court in Allahabad set the Rae Bareli court order aside on 6th June 2005. A special judicial magistrate in Rae Bareilly charged Advani with making "exciting and provocative speeches" which aroused the mobs to demolish the Babri Masjid.

By undertaking the Ratha Yatra (Chariot tour) to mobilize support for building of a temple dedicated to Lord Rama in Ayodhya , Advani turned the BJP into a significant force in Indian politics. Ayodhya is believed to be his birthplace, which was razed and converted to Mosque by Babar, the first Mughal ruler in India who arrived from Afghanistan in 1528. During his tour to Pakistan, at Lahore he inaugrated the renovation project of Katasraj Temple, the most ancient temple in Pakistan. He also remarked on Jinnah for which he was forced to resign e from his post as BJP President by the VHP.

According to sources a criminal case is still pending against Advani and 17 others for allegedly conspiring to kill Pakistan`s first Governor-General Mohammad Ali Jinnah and other leaders. case was lodged at Karachi`s Jamshed Quarters police station, on September 10, 1947. However, the Pakistani government has said that they do not intend to indicte him in the near future. On June 7, 2005, Advani offered his resignation from his post as BJP President amid controversial comments he is said to have made during a trip to Pakistan. He became the first major Indian political leader to visit Jinnah`s mausoleum, on June 4 and he wrote in the visitors` book: "There are many people who leave an irreversible stamp on history. But there are few who actually create history. Qaed-e-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah was one such rare individual. In his early years, leading luminary of freedom struggle Sarojini Naidu described Jinnah as an ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity. His address to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan on August 11, 1947 is really a classic and a forceful espousal of a secular state in which every citizen would be free to follow his own religion. The State shall make no distinction between the citizens on the grounds of faith. My respectful homage to this great man."

The Indian media reported this writing as Advani terming Jinnah as a "secular" leader. Both Hindu nationalist groups came under the same decision with the BJP and officials from the ruling Congress party lashed out against Advani for his statements. Leter the leaders of the BJP party tried to persuade Advani to take back his resignation, but this suggestion was refused by Advani. A memorandum was again presented to Advani by the partymen hailing his trip to Pakistan without any reference to the Jinnah speech. Advani rejected this memorandum yet again. In Pakistan a some kind of different reaction if found in a editorial, The News said "His remarks have certainly given him a new look among the Pakistani people, who otherwise would reject him as a hardcore radical with nothing good to contribute to peace." while others saw this as posturing on Advani`s part to widen his appeal to the Indian masses to appear as a prime minister in waiting. He has become even more media-shy since his visit last year to Pakistan.

The chief of the Hindu nationalist RSS acknowledged Advani`s contributions as party president without referring to the Jinnah incident while another senior leader of BJP, Murali Manohar Joshi opined that the party ideology could not be diluted. L.K Advani took back his resignation on 10th June 2005. Sushma Swaraj, a BJP party leader said at the end of the party`s parliamentary board meeting "During the last four days there was a crisis gripping the party after Advani`s resignation, which was unequivocally rejected. It is now over." Amongst those present in the board meeting were former Prime Minister A.B Vajpayee and former union minister Murali Manohar Joshi. The board adopted a resolution stating Jinnah to be the pursuer of the two nation theory which eventually lead to the partition of Indian subcontinent into India and Pakistan. However, the controversial visit of L.K Advani to Pakistan was declared to be a success.

Advani announced on 18th September 2005 that after the silver jubilee celebrations of the party he would step down as party president. Thereafter at the Silver Jubilee celebrations of the BJP in Mumbai in December, 2005, Advani stepped down and Rajnath Singh, a mass leader from Uttar Pradesh was installed as BJP President. In March, 2006, after a bomb blast at one of the holiest Hindu shrines at Varanasi, Advani decided to undertake another "Yatra" (Sojourn), which he called "Bharat Suraksha Yatra"( Sojourn for National Security). This was undertaken as a twin yatra, the other person being Rajnath Singh. Despite initial claims by the media and newspersons that the yatra was without an issue and was being ignored by the people, Advani`s efforts seem to have stirred the masses and has vowed to make the BJP return to power in 2009.

In December 2006, while giving an interview to CNN-IBN, L.K. Advani stated that as the Leader of the Opposition in a parliamentary democracy, he considers himself as the Prime Ministerial candidate for the next general elections, scheduled for early 2009. This also resulted into irritation among his colleagues within the party who are not supportive of his advocacy. party spokesperson Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told the press that the BJP would fight the next elections under a second-generation leader. Another factor is his age; He will already be 82 by the time the next government is formed. In addition, he has failed to repair his relationship with the RSS following his Jinnah remarks. The chief of the RSS, K.S. Sudarshan made it clear that he wants Vajpayee and Advani to step aside for younger leaders. The major factor going in his favor is that he has always been the second most powerful leader in the BJP behind Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Early 2007 Advani met archaeologists from Pakistan who had been visiting Indian temples to acquaint themselves with Hindu architecture. Advani made the positive gesture to Musharraf in a letter to the Pak leader in which he was effusive in his praise saying: "I wish to express my deep appreciation for this (the restoration of the Katasraj temples)." Elsewhere, he congratulated Musharraf for visiting the Shiva temple in Karachi in November-2006. "The people of India have also welcomed your visit to the Shiva temple in Karachi in November last year," he wrote in the letter.

He remains the "iron man" of Indian politics who brought Hindu nationalism to the center stage of national polity in the eyes of his supporters, which propelled his party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), to power in Delhi. It is always interesting to meet Mr Advani because there is an element of mystery to him. A movie buff, he is a fan of suspense thrillers, he says he has seen all of Alfred Hitchcock films. He also likes seeing horror movies. Speaking about younger actors, Mr Advani praises Rani Mukherjee and Hrithik Roshan but says his all-time favourite is Bollywood superstar, Amitabh Bachchan. "It`s like Sachin Tendulkar. There may be several great players but with Sachin it is his consistency, which makes him a truly great player. It is the same with Amitabh. There are several good artistes, but to be such an exceptional actor as to stay at the top for all this time? I can`t think of another who can match up to him. There is no doubt Amitabh is a class by himself."

Mr Advani is also a ravenous reader and his admission that Indian religious epics like the Ramayana and Mahabharata have had a great influence on his life does not come as a surprise. But when he lists his other all-time favourite books, the choice does seem rather unconventional. Even at 82 and despite leading such a hectic political life, Mr Advani is still quite fit. "Many people ask me how I remain so fit. The secret is I have been a frugal eater since my childhood." There is another interesting comment he makes about age when he says, "all Indian parties talk about encouraging the younger generation. But nowhere are the old forced to retire". L.K Advani doesn`t believe in looking back. When he was asked if he has any regrets or whether he would choose not to do something if given a chance to live his life again, his response is: "It is not in my nature to regret about the past. What has happened in the past I don`t think about it. Even if the result is not always satisfactory. One has to keep looking forward." A man known for his sophistication and culture, Advani is the emblem of a modest life style.