Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Saturday that BJP stalwart and former deputy prime minister Lal Krishna Advani will be conferred the Bharat Ratna, the country’s highest civilian award, and described it as a “very emotional moment for me”.

Modi was effusive in his praise of the contribution of the BJP’s longest-serving president to public life. First in his posts on X and then at a public meeting in Odisha, Modi hailed Advani as one of the most respected statesmen who challenged dynasty politics and connected India’s democracy to “all-inclusive and nationalist ideologies”. Advani, 96, greeted journalists at his home from a distance and later said in a statement that the award is not only an honour for him as a person but also for the ideals and principles that he strove to serve throughout life to the best of his ability.