Nadda pays tribute to Syama Prasad Mookerjee on birth anniversary, recalls struggle for Article 370-free Kashmir

Bharatiya Janata Party national president JP Nadda, while paying tributes to Syama Prasad Mookerjee on his birth anniversary on Wednesday, said that he founded Jan Sangh due to the "appeasement policy" of the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

Nadda further said that Mookerjee had told Nehru that the imposition of Article 370 is harmful for the country.

The remarks of the BJP chief came on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Syama Prasad Mookerjee. He also planted a sapling at Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Park on the occasion.

"Crores of workers of the party all across the country and the globe are celebrating Syama Prasad Mookerjee's birth anniversary. He became the Vice-Chancellor of Calcutta University in those days at the age of 33 which speaks volumes of his knowledge and his wisdom. He was the first member of the cabinet of Jawaharlal Nehru. He resigned due to differences of opinion with Nehru and founded Bharatiya Jana Sangha," Nadda said while addressing the media.

"He founded the organisation because he was saddened by the appeasement policy of Nehru. He said that the imposition of Article 370 is harmful for the country. He gave a slogan against it," he added.

Recalling the "mysterious" death of the Jana Sangha founder in Jammu and Kashmir, Nadda said that Mookerjee's mother had written to the then Prime Minister, however, Nehru did not conduct an enquiry into the matter.

"He went to Jammu and Kashmir without permit on May 11. He was arrested on the same date. He died in the Srinagar jail on June 23 in a mysterious way. His mother had written a letter to Nehru demanding an enquiry. Only Congress and Nehru know why the enquiry was not conducted," he said.

"We lost a leader but we kept on marching to make his journey come true. Article 370 was scrapped by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. This is a true tribute to Syama Prasad Mookerjee," Nadda added.

The BJP chief said that a "true tribute" to the Sangha founder as a party worker would be to "invest the lives to strengthen our country".

Syama Prasad Mookerjee was the founder of Bharatiya Jana Sangh and also served as the Minister for Industry and Supply in Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's cabinet.

Bharatiya Jana Sangh, founded in 1951, is the ideological parent organisation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

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 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 as "detenu" on June 23, 1953.

( With inputs from ANI )