LK Advani, a long-serving figure within the BJP whose political work contributed to the party's growth into a national force and who held the position of Deputy Prime Minister between 2002 and 2004, was taken to Indraprastha Apollo Hospital in Delhi on Friday after developing a chest infection.

Taken by ambulance to the hospital shortly after 7:30 in the evening, the 98-year-old was placed under the care of the pulmonary ward. Doctors were monitoring him and running tests, with the hospital reporting that his condition had remained stable.

Two prior stays at Apollo Hospital had already taken place before this most recent admission. In May of that year, Advani spent several days receiving hospital care for health issues linked to his age before being cleared to leave.

A medical team has been keeping watch over Advani's condition as he undergoes treatment for a chest infection. Doctors are keeping watch over him while diagnostic testing proceeds. According to a statement from the hospital, he remains in a stable condition.

Admitted to the intensive care unit at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, Advani received diagnostic assessments and treatment during the month of December 2024. A neurologist oversaw his care, and doctors at the facility regarded his condition as stable. A statement from the hospital on 17 December 2024 noted that Advani's health had taken a turn for the better, with a move out of the ICU anticipated within one to two days.

A Karachi native whose birth date falls on 8 November 1927 — in territory that would later form part of Pakistan — Advani carved out a place among the BJP's most consequential political figures. On more than one occasion, he took the helm of the party as its president, while also working to build out and consolidate its organisational reach at a national level.

The Ram Rath Yatra he undertook in 1990 marked a turning point in his career, with the journey drawing wider public attention to the BJP and broadening the party's reach across the political landscape. A later chapter of his public life placed him in the role of Deputy Prime Minister — a post he occupied within Atal Bihari Vajpayee's government across the 2002–2004 period.

Throughout his political career, Advani took on a range of portfolio responsibilities, with the Home Affairs ministry among those placed under his charge. In 2024, the Bharat Ratna — India's foremost honour for civilian achievement — was conferred upon Advani in recognition of his decades of engagement with public life. The Padma Vibhushan, one of India's foremost civilian honours, was conferred on him in 2015.

Advani, now 98, holds a place in the BJP's record as one of the party's long-standing figures, though the precise weight of his current role is a matter of ongoing political assessment. From the party's early organisational groundwork through to its establishment as a force at the national level, and into the years he spent within the Union Government, his professional journey has touched each of those chapters.

Doctors at Apollo Hospital are managing a chest infection he developed, and those overseeing his care have described his condition as stable.