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Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath paid floral tribute to Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee on his 125th birth anniversary on Sunday.
Addressing the event in Lucknow, CM Yogi remembered Mookerjee's contributions as an educationist and his service during the Bengal famine in 1943. "It is the 125th birth anniversary of Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee today. On behalf of the people of the state, I pay tribute to him today. Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee was born on 6th July 1901. At the age of 33, he became the youngest Vice Chancellor of Calcutta University. He was a great educationist and freedom fighter. The country remembers the service he did during the Bengal famine," CM Yogi said. The Chief Minister added that Mookerjee resigned from former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's cabinet when the government tried to grant a separate status to Jammu and Kashmir. He added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi fulfilled Syama Prasad Mookerjee's dream and brought Jammu and Kashmir into the mainstream. CM Yogi said, "His life was dedicated to the unity of India. He resigned from the first Nehru cabinet due to its appeasement policies. When the Nehru government tried to give a separate status to Jammu & Kashmir, he raised the first voice against it...PM Narendra Modi has realised the dreams of Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee by bringing Jammu & Kashmir into the mainstream." Earlier on Sunday, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Virendra Sachdeva, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, and other party leaders paid floral tributes to Syama Prasad Mookerjee at an event organised in Delhi. Syama Prasad Mookerjee was the founder of Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the ideological parent organisation of the BJP. Born on July 6, 1901, in Calcutta, was a multifaceted personality - patriot, educationist, parliamentarian, statesman, and humanitarian. He became the youngest Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calcutta in 1934. He later joined the Hindu Mahasabha and, in 1937, united non-Congress forces to form a Progressive Coalition government under the leadership of Fazal-ul-Haq, with himself as the Finance Minister. Mookerjee resigned from the Bengal Cabinet in November 1942, protesting against the Governor's interference in administration and criticising provincial autonomy as ineffective. His humanitarian efforts during the Bengal famine of 1943, including relief initiatives, highlighted his commitment to serving society. Post-independence, he joined the interim government under Jawaharlal Nehru as Minister for Industry and Supply. According to the BJP's official website, on the issue of the Delhi pact with Likayat Ali Khan, Mookerjee resigned from the Cabinet on April 6, 1950. Later on October 21, 1951, Mookerjee founded the Bharatiya Jana Sangh in Delhi and became its first president. Mookerjee went to visit Kashmir in 1953 and was arrested on May 11. He died under detention on June 23, 1953. (ANI)
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