Law Kumar Mishra
Former Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani celebrated his 98th birthday on Saturday.
During his tenure as president of the Jana Sangh and later the BJP, he visited Rajkot several times.
In 1990, the first halt of his historic Somnath Yatra was Rajkot. He spent the night at the Sardar Bagh Guest House, which had been built by the Nawab of Junagadh, and the next morning he proceeded toward Ahmedabad via Surendranagar.
It was in this same Circuit House that, under the direction of Sardar Patel, Junagadh’s Prime Minister—the father of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto—and V.P. Menon, India’s Cabinet Secretary, signed the Document of Accession for Junagadh’s merger with India.
During that yatra, Pramod Mahajan and Narendra Modi were also his co-travelers. In Rajkot, Advani interacted with journalists who had accompanied him from Delhi as well as with local reporters, and shared meals with them.
He also met party leaders from Saurashtra, including Chimanbhai Shukla, Vijaybhai Rupani, and Bajubhai Vala. Together, they visited the Race Course near the Circuit House. As he always did, he went to Patel Ice Cream Shop and enjoyed Vadilal ice cream parlour. Whenever he came to Rajkot, he never missed visiting either Patel Ice Cream or Maganlal Ice Cream.
Before the tenure of T.N. Seshan as Chief Election Commissioner, election meetings often continued late into the night. BJP’s rallies were held at Shastri Maidan, located in the center of the city, between Trikon Baug and Jubilee Baug. These gatherings usually began after 10 p.m.
After his speeches, Advani always went to the Race Course, where he often watched films at Galaxy Cinema Hall, one of the largest theaters in the city situated opposite the Race Course. He even encouraged journalists to watch the same films. He fondly recalled going to the cinema with Atal Bihari Vajpayee in Delhi as well.
Advani had a special emotional connection with Rajkot. During one of his visits, he reminisced that his parents lived in Gandhidham, while his sister lived in Morbi. Once, he visited Morbi to see her—she was suffering from Parkinson’s disease, and he felt deep sorrow that her memory had also begun to fade.
In 1984, during a late-night election rally at Shastri Maidan, he spoke strongly against black money, promising that when his party came to power, it would bring back Indian black money stashed abroad.
During the elections, Advani stayed at Rajkot Circuit House, while in another room of the same premises, Maneka Gandhi, leader of the Sanjay Vichar Manch, was also staying. At that time, there were no restrictions on leaders using government accommodation during elections, nor were there any Election Commission observers present.
(The author is a senior journalist based at Patna in Bihar)
