Lal Krishna Advani, who served as Deputy Prime Minister and has long been associated with the BJP, was taken to Indraprastha Apollo Hospital in Delhi after developing a chest infection. According to representatives at the facility, he remained in a stable condition.
The 98-year-old was transferred by ambulance to the pulmonary ward shortly after 7:30 on Friday evening and was checked in for treatment. Doctors are monitoring him while laboratory tests proceed. Hospital staff have been attending to Advani, and those familiar with his status say his condition has held steady.
The admission marks one of several hospitalisations Advani has undergone over the past several months. A hospitalisation at Apollo Hospital, attributed to health complications linked to his age, took place in May of this year. Doctors kept him in their care for several days before clearing him to leave.
Towards the close of 2024, Advani underwent a course of medical assessment and treatment during a spell in the intensive care unit at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital. A neurologist oversaw his course of treatment. A spokesperson for the facility confirmed that his condition had remained stable during that admission.
On 17 December 2024, the hospital indicated that a transfer out of intensive care was anticipated within one to two days, following a gradual improvement in his condition.
Born in Karachi on 8 November 1927 — a city that would later fall within Pakistan's boundaries — Advani built a political profile that placed him among the BJP's most consistently recognised leadership figures across the party's history. His involvement is credited with helping transform the party from a relatively modest outfit into a nationally prominent organisation.
Across several terms as BJP president, Advani built up the party's organisational reach throughout India, laying groundwork that extended its presence from the national level down to local structures. The 1990 cross-country yatra he led is widely described by analysts as having reshaped the electoral landscape and broadened the BJP's organisational footprint across the country.
Between 2002 and 2004, he held the post of Deputy Prime Minister within the Vajpayee-led administration, a cabinet position that placed him among the most senior figures in the national government at that time. Among the roles he took on across his time in public office was the Home Affairs portfolio, alongside several other ministerial responsibilities.
Advani received the Bharat Ratna — the nation's foremost civilian honour — in 2024, a formal acknowledgement of the role he had played in public life. Padma Vibhushan recognition had been conferred upon him at an earlier point, with that distinction dating to 2015. His standing within the BJP traces back through decades of the party's formation and growth, where his name became woven into its foundational narrative.
