In News
- Recently, The Prime Minister of India has paid tributes to Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya Ji on his 105th birth anniversary.
Image Courtesy: FE
About Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya
- Early Life and Education:
- Born on September 25, 1916, in the sacred region of Brij in the village of Nagla Chandrabhan in Mathura District.
- He lost his parents at an early age and was brought up by his maternal uncle.
- He attended high school in Sikar. Being regarded as a brilliant student, the Maharaja of Sikar gave him a gold medal, ?250 for books and a monthly scholarship of ?10.
- He passed his Intermediate exams with distinction in Pilani and left for Kanpur to pursue his B.A. and joined the Sanatan Dharma College.
- Philosophy:
- He is extensively admired for the philosophy of Integral Humanism which is the official philosophy of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
- A profound philosopher, organiser par excellence and a leader who maintained the highest standards of personal integrity.
- Political Role:
- He joined RSS in 1937 and came under the influence of Shri Nana ji Deshmukh and Shri Bhau Jugade.
- He convened on September 21, 1951, a political convention of UP and founded the state unit of the new party, Bharatiya Jana Sangh.
- He was the leader of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh from 1953 to 1968.
- Contributions:
- He launched the weekly ‘Panchjanya’ and the daily ‘Swadesh’.
- He was a creative writer and a renowned editor. He was a journalist in ‘Rashtra Dharma’ daily, worked as an editor for ‘Panchjanya’ and wrote a column named ‘Political Diary’ for the weekly ‘the Organiser’.
- His mantra for journalism was ‘Don’t distort the news’.
- He wrote a number of books including Samrat Chandragupt, Jagatguru Shankaracharya, Political Diary, Integral humanism, Ekatmamanav – vad and an analysis of the Five Year plans in India.
- Pandit Upadhyaya died under mysterious circumstances in February 1968.
- Tribute:
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled a 63-feet tall statue of Pandit Upadhyaya while inaugurating the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya Memorial Centre in Padao on the Varanasi-Chandauli border.
- The ‘pancha loha’ statue is the tallest statue of the BJP ideologue in India.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled a 63-feet tall statue of Pandit Upadhyaya while inaugurating the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya Memorial Centre in Padao on the Varanasi-Chandauli border.
- In 2014, the Ministry of Rural Development relaunched its existing skill development programme- Aajeevika Skills- National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM). However, they renamed the programme Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana- NRLM in November 2015.
Source: HT
