Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya

In News

• The Prime Minister has paid tributes to Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya on his Punya Tithi.

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. 
  • 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. It means  “a classless, casteless and conflict-free social order”. 
  • Integral humanism: It talks about the integration of indigenous “Indian culture” with the social, political and economic fabric of the nation.
    • It provides for  a holistic idea of human welfare.
    • It envisions a synthesis of materialism, spiritualism and cautious desire,  as each has a role in achieving happiness.
  • For India, he visualised a decentralised polity and self-reliant economy with the village being the core basis which thought of India as an independent nation which cannot rely upon western concepts like individualism, democracy, socialism, communism or capitalism.
  • Deendayal was of the view that India is in urgent need of a ‘fresh breeze’ to get rid of the post-independence westernisation.
  • Deendayal, just like all strong leaders, believed in the concept of Swaraj (Self Governance).

• 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 Organizer’. 
  • 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, Ekatma Manav – vad and an analysis of the Five Year plans in India.

• Death: 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.

• 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 2015.

Source: PIB