The Bharatiya Janata Party is one of the major political party in India.As of 2018, it is the country’s largest political party in terms of representation in the national parliament and state assemblies, and it is the world’s largest party in terms of primary membership. BJP is a right-wing party, and its policy has historically reflected Hindu-nationalist positions. It has close ideological and organisational links to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. In April 2015, the BJP stated that it had more than 100 million registered members, which would make it the world’s largest political party by primary membership.The organisation of the BJP is strictly hierarchical, with the president being the highest authority in the party. Until 2012, the BJP constitution mandated that any qualified member could be national or state president for a single three-year term. This was amended to a maximum of two consecutive terms. Below the president is the national executive, which contains a variable number of senior leaders from across the country. It is the higher decision making body of the party. Its members are several vice-presidents, general-secretaries, treasurers and secretaries, who work directly with the president. An identical structure, with an executive committee led by a president, exists at the state, regional, district and local level

The Bharatiya Janata Party is today the most prominent member of the family of organisations known as the “Sangh Parivar” and nurtured by the Rashtria Swyamsevak Sangh (RSS). Like the RSS, the BJP is wedded to India’s unity and integrity, its intrinsic identity and the social strength, individual character and cultural uniqueness that have been the hallmark of this great country and its people for millennia.History is the philosophy of nations. And the Sangh Parivar has a very clear and clear conception of Indian history. Here was a great civilization whose influence and imprint spread from Sri Lanka to Tibet, from Southeast Asia to Central Asia, from one end of the Indian Ocean to the other. It weathered the storms of invaders, from the Greeks to the Huns, from the Shakas to the Islamic armies of Turks and Afghans.It fought and resisted external oppression and its essential civilization and culture survived great challenges and attempts at effacement. The glory of Vijayanagara and the heroism of Maharana Pratap, of a Shivaji and of a Guru Govind Singh are testimony to the Indian spirit.

In more recent times this torch of nationalism and Indian identity was carried forward by Swami Dayanand and Swami Vivekanada. And in the present century the good work has been carried on by Sri Aurobindo, Lokmanya Tilak, Mahatma Gandhi and others. The RSS, founded by Dr K.B. Hedgewar in 1925 and consolidated by Shri Guruji M.S. Golwalkar after 1940, sees itself as the legatee of this heroic tradition. It believes in the principle of: “Justice for all and appeasement of none”. It has no doubt about Hindu identity and culture being the mainstay of the Indian nation and of Indian society. This identity and this culture informs all Indians, irrespective of religious or denominational faith. To the RSS, all Indians, irrespective of religious background, notwithstanding their mode and place of worship, are equal.

Ideologue and Teacher : Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya (1916-1968)

Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya was the leader of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh from 1953 to 1968. A profound philosopher, committed organization man and a leader who who maintained the highest standards of personal integrity and dignity in public life, he has remained a source of ideological guidance and moral inspiration for the BJP since its inception. His treatise Integral Humanism is a critique of both communism and capitalism. It provides a holistic alternative perspective for political action and statecraft consistent with the needs of the human race and the sustainability of our natural hab itat.

A Short Biography

Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya was born on September 25, 1916, in the sacred region of Brij – in the village of Nagla Chandraban in Mathura, in what is now Uttar Pradesh. An astrologer who studied his horoscope predicted that the boy would become a great scholar and thinker, a selfless worker, and a leading politician – but that he would not marry. Deendayalji experienced tragedy in his early years, losing his brother to illness in 1934. He later went to high school in Sikar (now in Rajasthan) where he excelled. The then Maharaja of Sikar awarded Pandit Upadhyaya a gold medal, Rs. 250 for books and a monthly scholarship of Rs.10.

Deendayalji passed his Intermediate exams with distinction in Pilani and left for Kanpur to pursue his B.A. and joined the Sanatan Dharma College. At the instance of his friend, Shri. Balwant Mahashabde, he joined the RSS in 1937. In the same year, he received his B.A. in the first division. Deendayalji then moved to Agra to pursue an M.A.

Here he joined forces with Shri. Nanaji Deshmukh and Shri. Bhau Jugade for RSS activities. Around this time Rama Devi, a cousin of Deendayalji’s, fell ill. She moved to Agra for treatment but unfortunately passed away. This left Deendayalji very depressed and was the second such tragedy he has experienced. He could not take the M.A. exams. His scholarships lapsed.

At the urging of his aunt he took a Government conducted competitive examination in dhoti and kurta, with a cap on his head. Other candidates wore western suits. In fun, they called him “Panditji” – an appellation millions were to use with respect and love in later years. As was his trademark, he topped this examination as well. He now moved to Prayag (Allahabad) to purse a B.T. and continue his RSS activites. After completion of his B.T., he worked full-time for the RSS and moved to Lakhimpur district in UP as an organiser. In 1955, he became the provincial organiser of the RSS in UP.

Deendayalji established the publishing house Rashtra Dharma Prakashan in Lucknow and launched the monthly magazine ‘Rashtra Dharma’. Later he launched the weekly ‘Panchjanya’ and still later the daily ‘Swadesh’. In 1950, Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee resigned from Jawaharlal Nehru’s Cabinet and sought Shri. Guruji’s help to enable idealistic young people to help shape an alternative political platform.

Deendayalji played a pivotal role here. On September 21, 1951, he was instrumental in hosting a political convention in UP and founding the state unit of the new party, the Bharatiya Jana Sangh. Dr. Mookerjee presided over the first all-India convention a month later, on October 21, 1951.

Deendayalji’s organizing skills were unmatched. Finally came the red letter day in the annals of the Jana Sangh when this utterly unassuming leader of the party was raised to the high position of President in the 1968. On assuming tremendous responsibility Deendayalji went to the South with the message of Jana Sangh. On the dark night of February 11, 1968, Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya was pushed into the jaws of sudden death, however. To this day, his followers and disciples lament that tragedy in Mughalsarai railway station.

Syama Prasad Mookerjee (1901-1953): Founder of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh

The BJP is the successor party of the BJS, which merged itself into the Janata Party in 1977. The BJP was formed as a separate party in 1980 after internal differences in the Janata Party resulted in the collapse of the Janata government in 1979.

A brief life-sketch

On hearing of her son’s untimely death, Dr. Mookerjee’s mother Jogmaya Debi exclaimed:
“Proudly do I feel that the loss of my son is a loss to Mother India!”

This brave son of India was born on July 6, 1901, to an illustrious family. His father Sir Asutosh was widely known in Bengal as an educationist and public intellectual. Graduating from Calcutta University, Dr. Mookerjee became a fellow of the Senate in 1923. He enrolled as an advocate in Calcutta High Court in 1924 after his father’s death. Subsequently he left for England in 1926, being called to the bar from Lincoln’s Inn in 1927. At the age of 33, he became the world’s youngest Vice-Chancellor at the Calcutta University and held the office till 1938. During his tenure, he introduced a number of constructive reforms and was active in the Asiatic Society as well as was a member of the Court and the Council of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and Chairman of the Inter-University of Board.

He was elected as member of the Legislative Council of Bengal as a Congress candidate, representing Calcutta University, but resigned when the Congress decided to boycott the legislature. Subsequently, he contested the election as an independent and got elected.

Pandit Nehru inducted him in the Interim Government as Minister for Industry and Supply. Following the Delhi Pact between Nehru and Liaquat Ali Khan, Prime Minister of Pakistan, Dr. Mookerjee resigned from the Cabinet on April 6, 1950. After consultation with Shri Golwalkar Guruji of the RSS, Dr. Mookerjee founded the Bharatiya Jana Sangh on October 21, 1951, in Delhi became its first President. In the 1951-52 election, the Bharatiya Jana Sangh won 3 seats in Parliament, one of them being that of Dr. Mookerjee. He then formed the National Democratic Party within the Parliament, as a coalition of 32 Lok Sabha MPs and 10 Rajya Sabha MPs.

Dr. Mookerjee was vociferous in the cause of the integration of Jammu and Kashmir with the rest of India. He termed the arrangement under Article 370 as Balkanisation of India. The Bharatiya Jana Sangh, along with the Hindu Mahasabha and the Ram Rajya Parishad, launched a satyagraha to have pernicious provisions related to Article 370 removed. Mookerjee went to visit Kashmir in 1953 and was arrested on May 11, 1953, while crossing into the state and breaching the infamous Permit System. He died while under arrest and held in difficult conditions, passing away on June 23, 1953.

A veteran politician, he was respected by his friends and foes alike for his knowledge and forthrightness. He outshone most Ministers in the cabinet with his erudition and learning. India lost a great son much too early.