A century in the making — and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma wants the country to pause and mark it. On Sunday, 8 November 2026, Sarma shared that Bharat Ratna recipient and veteran BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani has entered his 100th year, drawing attention to a piece written about Advani's life and legacy by Prime Minister Narendra Modi — his 'favourite mentee', as Sarma put it.

Modi on Advani: mentor, architect, Bharat Ratna

Sarma's post frames the moment with warmth and reverence. 'As Shraddheya Lal Krishna Advani ji enters his 100th year,' he wrote, 'here's what his favourite mentee and Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji writes about his life and times, one where he gave the nation a new direction.' The post carried three images, suggesting it highlighted pages or excerpts from Modi's tribute piece.

The relationship between Modi and Advani is one of Indian politics' most written-about mentorships. Modi rose through the BJP's organisational ranks during the same decades that Advani was remaking the party from a marginal parliamentary presence into a dominant national force. Advani has publicly spoken of Modi's potential long before his national rise, and Modi has repeatedly cited Advani's guidance as formative.

Advani's arc: from Sindh to Bharat Ratna

Lal Krishna Advani is among the longest-serving figures in Indian public life. He served as Home Minister and Deputy Prime Minister under the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led government, and his 1990 Rath Yatra reshaped the political geography of post-liberalisation India in ways that are still debated by scholars and strategists alike. As Home Minister, he oversaw some of the most consequential security and administrative decisions of the early 2000s.

In 2024, the Government of India awarded Advani the Bharat Ratna — the country's highest civilian honour — in recognition of his decades of public service. The award was widely seen within the BJP as an acknowledgement of Advani's foundational role in building the party's ideological and organisational infrastructure since the 1980s.

A milestone birthday and the BJP's culture of honouring its elders

Sarma's post fits a broader, deliberate pattern: the BJP has consistently used milestone occasions to publicly honour its senior-most leaders, reinforcing a narrative of ideological continuity that stretches from the Jan Sangh era to the present dispensation. A leader entering his 100th year is not merely a personal milestone — within the party's framing, it is living history.

Further commemorations and official events are anticipated as Advani approaches his centenary birthday in November 2027. If a Prime Ministerial tribute piece is already in circulation at the start of his 100th year, the scale of marking the actual birth centenary next year is likely to be substantial.

One hundred years, one Bharat Ratna, and an entire political era that bears his fingerprints — the countdown to that centenary has quietly begun.