Lal Krishna Advani
– Photo: PTI
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Former Deputy Prime Minister of India and veteran BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani has been declared Bharat Ratna by the Government of India. The party and the opposition have given him mixed reactions on Bharat Ratna. But the most important thing is that he has a deep connection with Aligarh. Former MP Late Sheela Gautam has been one of the leaders very close to him. This family is still connected to him through family ties.
If we talk about his arrival in Aligarh, then Ashutosh Varshney, who was the mayor of the city at that time, recalls the incident and tells that he was the mayor. It was the phase of assembly elections in the state and BJP President Lal Krishna Advani was coming to hold a meeting at the exhibition ground. But he was late in arriving and reached around ten o’clock. At the end of the meeting here, after greeting everyone, he first reached Anand Palace Hotel to return. Where his car broke down. On this the Mayor sent him to Delhi in his car. But that car also met with an accident on the way. However, Advani or the driver etc. remained safe and he was taken to Delhi in another vehicle.
Two days later, Advani’s call came on the mayor’s mobile. After this, in the election of Mayor Council, he asked BJP President Rajnath Singh to issue a whip and got Ashutosh Varshney elected as the President of the Council. To celebrate this, a banquet was organized at his residence in Delhi, in which Mayor, Sanjay Tiles, Subodh Sweety, MP Sheela Gautam and about two dozen BJP members from Aligarh attended. Similarly, BJP leader Sanjay Tiles, who was close to Sheila Gautam at that time, says that he got the opportunity to visit Sheila ji’s residence twice. For the second time in 2002-3, Advani, when he was the Deputy Prime Minister, came as the chief guest at the inauguration of Mangalayatan Teerthdham. BJP leaders Sanjay Tiles and Subodh Sweety say that the security personnel stopped them from going to that program. When this news reached him, he interrupted his staff and called about four dozen BJP workers from Aligarh-Hathras and sat together on chairs for about forty minutes and communicated.
