PM Modi Visits LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi Before Staking Claim To Form Govt

After Narendra Modi was unanimously named as leader of the NDA Parliamentary party, the PM visited BJP veterans LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi at their homes on Friday before the swearing-in on June 9.

These visits come right before before Modi's scheduled meet with President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhawan to claim the mandate to form the government. NDA secured a total of 293 seats, out of which BJP bagged 240, hence achieving a majority in the 543-member Lok Sabha.

Advani impact on BJP

After the BJP's significant loss in the 1984 general elections, where the party won only two Lok Sabha seats, LK Advani replaced Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the party president in 1986.

It was under Advani's leadership that BJP began to support VHP's demand for a Ram Temple in Ayodhya, marking a critical shift in the saffron party's ideological direction and electoral approach.

BJP formally endorsed the Ram Temple demand at its Palampur session in June 1989. This decision was a turning point for the party, propelling its rise in Indian politics despite internal disagreements - BJP stalwart Jaswant Singh so adamantly disagreed on this that he walked all the way to the railway station from the meet.