Representative image. President's Secretariat, GODL-India, Wikimedia Commons
Why it matters
Advani led the BJP for three terms and was Deputy Prime Minister, so the party's tribute and the Prime Minister's article are the day's main political event. The different numbers in today's coverage, 99th birthday and "100th", describe the same date.
LK Advani (Lal Krishna Advani), the former Deputy Prime Minister and one of the founders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), turns 99 on Sunday, 8 November 2026. Prime Minister Narendra Modi marked the day with a signed article in the Indian Express, and the BJP scheduled a programme for Advani at its New Delhi headquarters for 10 am.
Lal Krishna Advani was born in Karachi on 8 November 1927. This year the Advani birthday falls on Diwali, a point Modi made in his article.
What Modi wrote about LK Advani
Modi opened his article in the Indian Express by saying Advani “enters the hundredth year of his life today”. He tied LK Advani’s birthday to three anniversaries the BJP and its parent organisations are marking this year: 75 years of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the 125th birth anniversary of its founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee, and 100 years of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
The article is a personal tribute rather than a news statement. Modi wrote that he helped prepare Advani’s nomination papers for the 1991 Lok Sabha election, when Advani contested from two seats, one of them Gandhinagar in Gujarat, and that he voted for him there several times as a Gandhinagar voter. He also wrote that he was involved in the Somnath to Ayodhya Rath Yatra from the planning stage, and recalled Advani’s arrest in Bihar during it. Gandhinagar was a link to Advani’s past, according to Modi: his father settled in Kutch after Partition, and Advani had earlier been a Rajya Sabha member from Gujarat.
On Advani’s record as BJP president, Modi wrote that his tenures saw the Congress fall from 400 Lok Sabha seats to below 200 in 1989, and the BJP become the single largest party for the first time in 1996. Those are Modi’s own framing of the period. He ended with a prayer for Advani’s good health.
Dainik Bhaskar, which carried the Prime Minister’s message in Hindi, reported it as Advani’s 99th birthday.
The BJP’s Advani birthday programme at party headquarters
According to an invitation from the BJP’s media department, reported by Deccan Herald, the party’s programme for LK Advani was set for 10 am on 8 November at its headquarters at 6A, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Marg in New Delhi. BJP president Nitin Nabin was to attend, the report said. Dainik Bhaskar reported that the event would begin with a puja and havan, a Hindu fire ritual.
The reports read, all published before 10 am, did not say whether LK Advani himself would attend, and gave no further programme details. NewsPlainly had not seen a report of the event itself when this article was sent at about 10:15 am, so it is described here as scheduled.
Is LK Advani 99 or 100?
Different outlets use different numbers today, so here is the arithmetic. LK Advani was born on 8 November 1927. On 8 November 2026 he completes 99 years, which makes this his 99th birthday, the figure Dainik Bhaskar and The Telegraph’s headline use.
Completing 99 years also means he begins his 100th year of life. That is the wording in Modi’s article (“enters the hundredth year”). Deccan Herald’s report on the BJP invitation calls the occasion his “100th birthday”, which follows the same way of counting. Both describe the same date. NewsPlainly’s arithmetic: 2026 minus 1927 is 99. His 100th birthday in the usual sense falls on 8 November 2027.
Lal Krishna Advani’s posts, year by year
The dates below come from Modi’s article and from The Week’s report of 31 March 2024, the day Advani received the Bharat Ratna.
| Year | What happened | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1927 | Born in Karachi on 8 November | Modi article, The Week |
| 1947 | Left Sindh at Partition | Modi article, The Week |
| 1967 | Chairman of the Delhi Metropolitan Council | Modi article |
| 1970 | Began his parliamentary career | Modi article |
| 1977 | Information and Broadcasting Minister in the Janata government | Modi article |
| 1986 to 1990 | BJP president (first term) | The Week |
| 1993 to 1998 | BJP president (second term) | The Week |
| October 1999 to May 2004 | Union Home Minister | The Week |
| June 2002 to May 2004 | Deputy Prime Minister in the Vajpayee government | The Week |
| 2004 to 2005 | BJP president (third term) | The Week |
| 31 March 2024 | Received the Bharat Ratna from President Droupadi Murmu at his home in Delhi | The Week |
The Bharat Ratna is India’s highest civilian honour. The Week reported that the President gave it to Advani at his residence, with Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Home Minister Amit Shah present, citing a Rashtrapati Bhavan post on X.
Where Advani fits in the BJP’s story
Lal Krishna Advani’s political life began in the RSS. Modi wrote that he first worked as an RSS pracharak, a full-time organiser, in Rajasthan before moving to Delhi and working with Atal Bihari Vajpayee in the Jana Sangh, the party that came before the BJP. Deccan Herald described him as one of the main architects of the BJP’s rise as a national force. Modi wrote that in Delhi’s Metropolitan Council Advani worked alongside the late Vijay Kumar Malhotra, and that in Parliament he served as Leader of the Opposition in both Houses.
Modi’s article also recalled Advani’s opposition to the Emergency of 1975, which he wrote about in his book “A Prisoner’s Scrap-Book”, and his autobiography “My Country My Life”. Modi also wrote that Advani kept close ties with Sindhi culture and helped popularise the Sindhu Darshan puja near Leh. The Prime Minister mentioned Advani’s late wife Kamla Advani as a constant support through his public life.
The Rath Yatra Modi described remains the most debated chapter of LK Advani’s career, closely tied to the Ram temple movement in Ayodhya. Modi’s article presents it as a turning point for the better; the article is a tribute from a party colleague, and NewsPlainly has quoted it as his view. For more political news, see our Politics section.
Frequently asked questions
How old is LK Advani today?
He turns 99 on 8 November 2026. He was born in Karachi on 8 November 1927, so he now begins his 100th year.
Why do some reports say Advani's 100th birthday?
Modi wrote that Advani enters the hundredth year of his life, and Deccan Herald called it his 100th birthday. By the usual count, 8 November 2026 is his 99th birthday.
When did LK Advani get the Bharat Ratna?
President Droupadi Murmu gave him the Bharat Ratna at his residence in Delhi on 31 March 2024, The Week reported.