Lal Krishna Advani, a long-serving BJP figure who previously held the post of Deputy Prime Minister, was taken to Indraprastha Apollo Hospital in Delhi on Friday after a chest infection developed. Hospital representatives noted that the 98-year-old leader remains in a steady condition.
Advani arrived at the facility at around 7:30 in the evening and, following an initial round of tests, was placed under the care of the pulmonary department. Physicians are monitoring his condition while additional diagnostic tests are carried out. Given his age alongside the active infection, the medical team has placed him on a monitored watch. Hospital officials confirmed that he remains in a stable condition.
The BJP leader's hospitalisation on this occasion marks at least the second such admission over the past several months. A stay at Apollo Hospital in May of this year marked his most recent prior admission, prompted by health concerns tied to advancing age. Doctors kept him in their care for several days before clearing him to leave.
Towards the close of 2024, Advani was placed under intensive care at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, where doctors carried out tests and treatment. A neurologist oversaw his care, and the facility placed his condition on the stable list. A statement from the hospital on 17 December 2024 noted that Advani's condition had been improving steadily, with a transfer out of the intensive care unit anticipated within a day or two.
Advani was born on 8 November 1927 in Karachi, a city that later fell within the borders of Pakistan. His place within the BJP's broader history has drawn attention as one of the party's more recognisable names over time. Building the party's footprint across India stood among his lasting contributions, and the organisation's top leadership post passed through his hands on more than one occasion.
The 1990 Ram Rath Yatra, which he organised and led, is credited by some analysts with broadening the BJP's electoral base and, in their assessment, altering the direction of Indian politics in the years that followed. Between 2002 and 2004, Advani held the position of Deputy Prime Minister within the Vajpayee-led administration, a cabinet arrangement in which Atal Bihari Vajpayee occupied the top executive post. Among the posts he occupied over the course of his political life was that of Union Home Minister.
Advani received the Bharat Ratna — the country's foremost civilian decoration — during 2024, a conferral tied to his decades of engagement in public affairs. The Padma Vibhushan had been conferred on him in 2015. Across multiple decades, Advani's contributions helped shape the BJP into the political force it became, leaving him a notable name in the party's institutional memory.
