Lal Krishna Advani life and biography

Lal Kishenchand Advani known as Lal Krishna Advani (born 8 November 1927) is a prominent Indian politician and a former president of the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is currently the major opposition party in the Indian Parliament. He did his schooling at St. Patrick’s, Karachi. He later graduated in Law from Bombay University. In 1947, he was an RSS organizer of Karachi city. When Jana Sangh was founded by Dr. Mukherjee in 1951, he became its Rajasthan State Secretary. In 1958, he shifted to Delhi and became the Secretary of Delhi Jana Sangh. During the period, he was also Secretary of the Jana Sangh Parliamentary Group.

In 1966, he was elected the Chairman of the Delhi Metropolitan Council and in 1970, he became a member of the Rajya Sabha. He was elected the President of Jana Sangh in 1973. In 1977, he was appointed as the Minister of Information and Broadcasting in the Janata Government. The BJP was launched in 1980. For six years, Advani held the post of Party General Secretary. He was jailed in 1990 for his infamous Ram Rathyatra. He served as the Deputy Prime Minister of India from 2002 to 2004 and is currently the leader of opposition in the 14th Lok Sabha.

In 2008, Advani released an autobiography, My Country My Life. The book narrates autobiographical accounts and events in the life of Advani. The book alongside mentions the event in the Indian politics and India's history from 1900 till date. The Book became one of the the highest selling books in India by volume.

This book covers mostly chronologically all the major and minor events in the life of Advani. My Country My Life presents L.K. Advani's memoirs in five phases.

Respected journalist Vir Sanghvi, editor of the Hindustan Times commented that the book is significant not for what it says, but for what it doesn’t. "Advani’s strengths and weaknesses are captured in his new book, My Country My Life. It is a readable, rewarding and often racy account of his political career. Written from the heart, it is part-memoir and part-manifesto".

The autobiography has also been widely discredited for glossing over key events and has been seen as many critics as an attempt to deflect blame for many events right from the Babri Masjid demolition to the hijack of IC814 to Kandahar. His claim, that he was not consulted before the hijackers were released, was widely discredited across the country and severely damaged his credibility.

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