New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and several other party leaders paid homage to the BJP ideologue Syama Prasad Mookerjee on his 123rd birth anniversary on Saturday.
PM Modi said Mookerjee made India proud with his fierce nationalistic ideas, and that his sacrifice and dedication to the motherland will always inspire people.
Shah said every Indian is indebted to Mookerjee for "his unique efforts for the integrity of the country." Mookerjee was one of the founders of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the forerunner to the Bharatiya Janata Party.
"I remember and pay my tribute to the eminent nationalist thinker Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee on his birth anniversary. Whenever there is talk of fighting for the unity and integrity of the country, Dr. Mukherjee will definitely be remembered," Shah said in a post on X.
"Whether it is his struggle to keep Bengal a part of the country or making the supreme sacrifice to keep Jammu and Kashmir an integral part of India with the resolution of 'Ek Nishan, Ek Pradhan, Ek Vidhan', every Indian is indebted to him for his unique efforts for the integrity of the country. Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, who provided an ideological alternative to the country by establishing the Jan Sangh, will forever be a guide on the path of nation first."
Meanwhile, Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva and other leaders of the party paid floral tribute to the Jana Sangh founder and planted a sapling at the Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Statue Park in New Delhi on Saturday. Sachdeva told ANI, "Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee is an idea. The message he gave to the country was that one nation cannot have 'do nishaan', 'do vidhaan', and 'do pradhan'. His resolution was fulfilled by PM Narendra Modi on August 5, 2019."
BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj told that Mookerjee was a leader who sacrificed his life for the integration of India. "Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee is a leader who sacrificed his life for the integration of our country. He dreamt of a unified India... It is our fortune that the BJP, under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi, has been able to fulfil his dream."
He was a member of Jawaharlal Nehru's Cabinet, which he quit in protest over his differences with the prime minister and then formed the Jana Sangh with support from the RSS.
According to the BJP's official website, on the issue of the Delhi pact with Liaquat 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.
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