By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
I extend my warm birthday wishes to Lal Krishna Advani, one of the principal architects of the BJP’s rise from a marginal political force to India’s dominant ruling party.
As a journalist, I always enjoyed covering Advani’s press conferences and public speeches. One of the reasons was his remarkable clarity of thought and expression. He was so articulate that one could easily capture almost every word he uttered. His speeches were also impactful, touching upon some of the most contentious political issues of the time, ranging from Article 370 to the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.
I vividly remember covering his speech at Parade Ground in Jammu in 1990, when the Ram Temple movement was at its peak. A sea of humanity had gathered at the venue. Thousands of people were shouting slogans: “Advani ji aage badho, hum tumhare saath hain.” The atmosphere was electrifying, much like the massive public rallies at Ramlila Maidan.
Advani would thunder from the stage: “Kasam Ram ki khate hain, hum mandir wahin banayenge.” His words would send the crowd into a frenzy. Watching him command such enormous public support, it was difficult not to believe that he would one day become India’s Prime Minister. But destiny had other plans. He came close to the country’s highest political office, eventually becoming Deputy Prime Minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, but the Prime Minister’s chair remained beyond his reach.
Another unforgettable memory is from the same year, when I went to Connaught Place in Delhi to catch a glimpse of his historic Rath Yatra from Somnath to Ayodhya. What a sight it was! Connaught Place was jam-packed, with tens of thousands of people jostling with one another for a glimpse of the BJP leader. Advani was standing behind the late Pramod Mahajan, who was driving the chariot. The sheer excitement and enthusiasm of the crowds remain etched in my memory even after more than three decades.
In 1998, I got an opportunity to interview Advani at his residence in Delhi. Unfortunately, I missed him by half an hour. By the time I reached his home, he had already left. It was one of those frustrating moments in a journalist’s life when an opportunity slips away just when you think you are about to get it.
My interactions with him continued after I moved to Dehradun. In 2000, Advani visited the city and had an extensive interaction with journalists. I was sitting in the front row and got an opportunity to ask him several questions, including those concerning the Ram Temple issue. He continued visiting Dehradun and other parts of the newly formed hill state in the years that followed.
The last major public speech of Advani that I covered was in 2011, when he arrived in Dehradun as part of his Jan Chetna Yatra against corruption. By the time he reached Parade Ground, it was already quite late and much of the crowd had dispersed. The contrast with the massive gathering I had witnessed at Jammu and New Delhi in 1990 was striking.
The man who had once commanded huge crowds and electrified political rallies was now addressing a considerably thinner audience. The political winds had changed. Narendra Modi was emerging as the BJP’s new face, and the Advani era was drawing to a close. The writing on the wall was loud and clear.
Looking back, I feel fortunate to have witnessed and reported some of the defining moments of Advani’s political journey. From the frenzy of the Ram Rath Yatra and the roar of crowds in Jammu to his later visits to Dehradun, I saw a political leader who helped transform the BJP and reshape India’s political landscape.
He built a political movement, helped bring his party to power and served as Deputy Prime Minister. Yet, the one office that once seemed almost within his grasp remained elusive.
That, perhaps, is the greatest political irony of Lal Krishna Advani’s long and eventful career.