A century of life lived in service to a nation — and India's ruling party is marking the moment with rare solemnity. Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma on Sunday, November 8, 2026, shared Prime Minister Narendra Modi's personal essay honouring Bharat Ratna recipient and veteran BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani on the occasion of his 100th birth anniversary.

Sharma described Modi's article as one that presents, with deep feeling, Advani's inspirational life, his dedication to the nation and to the organisation, and his incomparable contribution to Indian politics. 'श्रद्धेय आडवाणी जी का अनुभव, मार्गदर्शन और राष्ट्रसेवा की प्रतिबद्धता आने वाली पीढ़ियों को सदैव प्रेरित करती रहेगी' — 'The experience, guidance, and commitment to national service of revered Advani ji will always inspire generations to come,' Sharma wrote, urging followers to read the Prime Minister's essay in full.

Advani's journey — from RSS pracharak to Bharat Ratna

Lal Krishna Advani is among the most consequential figures in post-Independence Indian politics. A lifelong Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh worker who rose through the Jana Sangh before becoming a founding architect of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Advani served as Deputy Prime Minister of India and held the Home Ministry at critical junctures in the nation's history. His decades-long career bridged the BJP's years in opposition to its emergence as India's dominant national force.

In February 2024, the Government of India conferred upon him the Bharat Ratna — the country's highest civilian honour — in recognition of a lifetime's contribution to public life. The centenary of his birth, then, is not merely a party occasion; it is a moment the BJP frames as a chapter in national history.

Modi's written tribute — why the essay matters

Prime Minister Modi published the essay on his official portal narendramodi.in, a deliberate choice that elevates it beyond a social-media post into something closer to a formal statement of gratitude. For the BJP, the act of a sitting Prime Minister writing at length about his party's patriarch carries unmistakable symbolic weight — it signals continuity between the movement Advani built and the government Modi leads.

Sharma's amplification of the piece follows a well-established pattern within the party: state-level leaders publicly relay tributes authored at the top, reinforcing the ideological thread that connects the BJP's current generation to its founders. The chain of acknowledgement — from Prime Minister to Chief Minister to the wider party ecosystem — is itself the message.

A milestone the BJP will not let pass quietly

Advani's centenary arrives at a moment when the BJP governs at the Centre and in a majority of states. The occasion offers the party both a moment of reflection and an opportunity to remind voters of the long arc of its political project — one that Advani helped draw from the margins of Indian politics to its centre. How the party memorialises this milestone, and whether it translates into larger public events or policy gestures, will be watched by political observers across the spectrum.

One hundred years of Advani. The BJP is making sure that number is heard.