Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
New Delhi
The BJP today hit out at its political rivals—the Congress and the Trinamool Congress—on the death anniversary of Syama Prasad Mukherjee which it observes as the ‘balidaan divas’—the sacrifice day.
While the party’s newly anointed working president JP Nadda accused former Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru of turning down the demand of an independent inquiry in his death, party president and Home Minister Amit Shah reminded the people that if “we can go without permit to Jammu and Kashmir and West Bengal is an integral part of India, it was all because of sacrifices by Mukherjee.”
Meanwhile, general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya mocked West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for observing the day even while “her ideology was not in sync with the late political stalwart’s thinking”. Delhi leader RP Singh told political rivals like Navjot Sidhu, Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal that but for the struggle and farsightedness of Mukherjee, “they would have been born and suffered in Pakistan”
Top BJP leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Shah and other prominent figures from the party paid tributes to Mookerjee on his death anniversary. Shah said for Mukherjee only nation was paramount. “He sacrificed ‘satta’ (power) and his everything for the sake of unity and integrity of the country”.
Mukherjee served as the Minister for Industry and Supply in Nehru’s cabinet but quit the Congress after falling out with the then Prime Minister over differences on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir. Mukherjee was strongly opposed to Article 370, seeing it as a threat to the unity of the country and fought against it inside and outside the Parliament.
Abrogation of the article continues to be a poll plank of the BJP.
“Ek desh main do vidhan, do pradhan aur do nishnan ke virodh main Dr Mukherjee ne swatantra bharat ka pehla rashtrvadi andolan cheda tha. Against the concept of two systems/ legislations, two prime ministers and two symbols in one country, Mukherjee started Independent India’s first nationalist movement.
“Mukherjee established Jana Sangh with the aim of rebuilding India. Today if we can go without permit to Jammu and Kashmir and West Bengal. is an integral part of India, it is because of sacrifices made by Dr. Mukherjee,” he added
Notably, Mukherjee and Praja Parishad leader Prem Nath Dogra had launched ‘Ek Vidhan, Ek Pradhan, Ek Nishan’ movement in early 1950s against the granting of the special status to Jammu and Kashmir. Mukherjee was arrested by the police while entering the state on May 11, 1953. He died during his detention in June 1953 at a prison in Srinagar.
Nadda said “The whole country demanded an inquiry into Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee’s death, but Pandit Nehru did not order an inquiry. History is witness to this. Dr Mukherjee’s sacrifice will never go in vain, BJP is committed to this cause,” he said speaking to media on Mukherjee’s 66th Death Anniversary.
Vijaywargia advised the TMC chief to not only pay tribute to Syama Prasad Mookerjee, but also follow his ideologies . “Observing the death anniversary and following his thinking are 2 different things. Mamata ji is observing his death anniversary, I thank her. But she should also follow his thinking so that violence, especially political violence, ends in WB,” he said going on to criticise her for the “manner in which she is getting BJP workers killed for vendetta”.
“This is not in line with Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee’s thinking. His politics was one which unites the nation. Mamata ji’s politics is one which divides the nation,” Vijayvargiya added.
Meanwhile, TMC minister Sovandeb Chatterjee lashed out the BJP and said Mukherjee would have committed suicide if he had been alive to witness the saffron party’s politics today.
“BJP is trying to project Dr Mukerjee as a parochial communal leader to suit its own divisive politics. Mukerjee was a great son of Bengal who had introduced Islamic Studies as VC of Calcutta University and therefore his real legacy should be projected among the people. If he had been alive he would have been ashamed of BJPs politics,” he was quoted as saying
