Deendayal Upadhyaya

2021-12-14T07:53:53Z

2401:4900:5292:FDA7:B14:3FAF:A0AB:79AE:

{{short description|Indian thinker and former leader of the political party Bharatiya Jana Sangh}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| office = 10th [[Bharatiya Jana Sangh#Chronological list of presidents|President of Bharatiya Jana Sangh]]
| term_start = 1967
| term_end = 1968
| predecessor = [[Balraj Madhok]]
| successor = [[Atal Bihari Vajpayee]]
| image = Pt Deendayal Upadhyay.jpg
| caption = Deendayal Upadhyay
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1916|09|25}}
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1968|02|11|1916|09|25}}
| birth_place = Nagla Chandraban, [[Mathura district|Mathura]], [[United Provinces of Agra and Oudh|United Provinces]], [[British Raj|British India]] <br/>{{small|(present-day Deendayal Dham, Mathura, [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[India]])}}
| death_place = [[Mughalsarai]], Uttar Pradesh, India
| alma_mater = [[Sanatan Dharma College, Kanpur]]
| party = [[Bharatiya Jana Sangh]]
| known_for = [[Integral humanism (India)|Integral Humanism]]
}}

'''Deendayal Upadhyaya''' (25 September 1916 – 11 February 1968) was an Indian politician and thinker of right-wing [[Hindutva]] ideology espoused by the [[Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh]] (RSS), and leader of the political party [[Bharatiya Jana Sangh]] (BJS), the forerunner of [[Bharatiya Janata Party]] (BJP). He was also known as '''Panditji''' for appearing in the civil services examination hall wearing the traditional Indian dhoti-kurta and cap.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Dutta |first1=Prabhash K. |title=Who was Deendayal Upadhyay, the man PM Narendra Modi often refers to in his speeches? |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/who-was-deendayal-upadhyay-narendra-modi-1049330-2017-09-21 |access-date=9 February 2021 |work=India Today |date=21 September 2017 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Anand |first1=Arun |title=Who killed Deendayal Upadhyaya? It's a 50-year-old question |url=https://theprint.in/politics/who-killed-deendayal-upadhyaya-its-a-50-year-old-question/509745/ |access-date=9 February 2021 |work=ThePrint |date=25 September 2020}}</ref>

Upadhyaya started the monthly publication ''Rashtra Dharma'' in the 1940s, while involved with the RSS, to spread Hindutva ideology.<ref name="PointsDDU">{{cite news |title= Points about Deendayal Upadhyay|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/gk-current-affairs/story/8-points-deendayal-upadhyaya-1348824-2018-09-25 |access-date=16 February 2020 |publisher=IndiaToday |date=25 September 2018}}</ref> He was brought up by his maternal uncle. His education, under the guardianship of his maternal uncle and aunt, saw him attend high school in [[Sikar]]. The Maharaja of Sikar gave him a gold medal, Rs 250 to buy books and a monthly scholarship of Rs 10.<ref name="manojsingh">{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Manoj |title=Deendayal Upadhyaya |publisher=LAKSHAY BOOKS |location=Preface |isbn=9788188992379 |page=7 |edition=First |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jaNxDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA7}}</ref> and did his [[Higher Secondary School Certificate|Intermediate]] in [[Pilani]], [[Rajasthan]].<ref name="WhowasDDU">{{cite news |title=Who was Deendayal Upadhyay, the man PM Narendra Modi often refers to in his speeches? |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/who-was-deendayal-upadhyay-narendra-modi-1049330-2017-09-21 |work=[[India Today]]|author=Prabhash K Dutta |date=21 September 2017 |access-date=26 November 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://rajasthan.bjym.org/pandit-deendayal-upadhyaya|title=Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya {{!}} Rajasthan|website=rajasthan.bjym.org|access-date=7 June 2019}}</ref> He took a BA degree at the Sanatan Dharma College, [[Kanpur]]. In 1939 he moved over to [[Agra]] and joined [[St. John's College, Agra]] to pursue a master's degree in English literature but could not continue his studies.<ref>{{Cite web| url=http://deendayalupadhyay.org/era.html |title= End of an Era |website=deendayalupadhyay.org |access-date=26 November 2018}}</ref> He did not take up his MA exams due to some family and financial issues. <ref name="manojsingh1">{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Manoj |title=Deendayal Upadhyaya |publisher=LAKSHAY BOOKS |location=Biography |isbn=9788188992379 |page=9 |edition=First |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jaNxDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA7}}</ref>

== Career ==
Upadhyaya had come into contact with the RSS through a classmate, Baluji Mahashabde, while studying at Sanatan Dharma College in 1937. He met the founder of the RSS, [[K. B. Hedgewar]], who engaged with him in an intellectual discussion at one of the [[shakha]]s. [[Sunder Singh Bhandari]] was also one of his classmates at Kanpur. He started full-time work in the RSS from 1942. He had attended the 40-day summer vacation RSS camp at [[Nagpur]] where he underwent training in Sangh Education. After completing second-year training in the RSS Education Wing, Upadhyaya became a lifelong ''[[RSS pracharak|pracharak]]'' of the RSS. He worked as the ''pracharak'' for the Lakhimpur district and, from 1955, as the joint ''Prant Pracharak'' (regional organiser) for Uttar Pradesh. He was regarded as an ideal [[swayamsevak]] of the RSS essentially because ‘his discourse reflected the pure thought-current of the Sangh’.<ref>{{cite book |last=Jaffrelot |first=Christophe |title=Hindu Nationalism – A Reader |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-691-13097-2 |page=140}}</ref>

Upadhyaya started the monthly ''Rashtra Dharma'' publication from Lucknow in the 1940s, using it to spread Hindutva ideology. Later he started the weekly ''[[Panchjanya (newspaper)|Panchjanya]]'' and the daily ''Swadesh''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Deendayal Upadhyaya |url=http://www.bjp.org/pandit-deendayal-upadhyaya |publisher=Bharatiya Janata party |access-date=12 September 2014}}
</ref>

In 1951, when [[Syama Prasad Mookerjee]] founded the BJS, Deendayal was seconded to the party by the RSS, tasked with moulding it into a genuine member of the [[Sangh Parivar]]. He was appointed as General Secretary of its Uttar Pradesh branch, and later the all-India general secretary. For 15 years, he remained the outfit's general secretary. He also contested by-poll for the [[Lok Sabha]] seat of Jaunpur from [[Uttar Pradesh]] in 1963 bi election when Jansangh MP Bramh Jeet Singh died, but failed to attract significant political traction and did not get elected.

In the [[1967 Indian general election|1967 general elections]], the Jana Sangh got 35 seats and became the 3rd largest party in the Lok Sabha. The Jan Sangh also went onto be a part of the [[Samyukta Vidhayak Dal]], an experiment of having non-Congress opposition parties as a coalition to form governments in multiple states This brought the right and the left of the Indian political spectrum on one single platform.<ref name="svdexp">{{citation |title=Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, a swayamsevak, was pitchforked to lead Jana Sangh at a critical juncture in party's history|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/deendayal-upadhyay-bharatiya-jana-sangh-rss-bjp-narendra-modi-6025646/|website=indianexpress.com |publisher=indianexpress.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200412085829/https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/deendayal-upadhyay-bharatiya-jana-sangh-rss-bjp-narendra-modi-6025646/ | archive-date= 12 April 2020}}</ref> He became president of the Jana Sangh in December 1967 in the Calicut session of the party. His presidential speech in that session focused on multiple aspects right from the formation of coalition government to language.<ref name="calicut1967">{{cite book |last1=Trivedi|first1=Dr. Preeti|title=Architect of A Philosophy|date=December 2017| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CYRCDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA308 | publisher=pustak.org | pages=308–312 |isbn=978-1-61301-638-1}}</ref> No major events happened in the party during his tenure as the president that ended in 2 months in February 1968 due to his untimely death.

Upadhyaya edited ''[[Panchjanya (newspaper)|Panchjanya]]'' (weekly) and ''Swadesh'' (daily) from [[Lucknow]]. In Hindi, he wrote a drama on [[Chandragupta Maurya]], and later wrote a biography of [[Shankaracharya]]. He translated a Marathi biography of Hedgewar.

== Philosophy ==
[[Integral humanism (India)|Integral humanism]] was a set of concepts drafted by Upadhyaya as political program and adopted in 1965 as the official doctrine of the Jan Sangh.<ref name=hansen84>{{cite book |last1=Hansen |first1=Thomas |title=The Saffron Wave: Democracy and Hindu nationalism in modern India |date=1999 |publisher=NJ: Princeton University Press|url=https://press.princeton.edu/titles/6652.html|page=84|archive-url= https://archive.org/stream/ThomasBlomHansenTheSaffronWaveDemocracyABookZZ.org_201803/%5BThomas_Blom_Hansen%5D_The_Saffron_Wave_Democracy_a%28BookZZ.org%29_djvu.txt | archive-date= 2 November 2009 |isbn=9780691006710 }}</ref>

Upadhyaya considered that it was of utmost importance for India to develop an indigenous economic model with a human being at center stage. This approach made this concept different from [[Socialism]] and [[Capitalism]]. Integral Humanism was adopted as Jan Sangh's political doctrine and its new openness to other opposition forces made it possible for the Hindu nationalist movement to have an alliance in the early 1970s with the prominent Gandhian [[Sarvodaya#Sarvodaya movement|Sarvodaya movement]] going on under the leadership of [[J. P. Narayan]]. This was considered to be the first major public breakthrough for the Hindu nationalist movement.<ref name="hansen85">{{cite book|url=https://press.princeton.edu/titles/6652.html|title=The Saffron Wave: Democracy and Hindu nationalism in modern India|last1=Hansen|first1=Thomas|date=1999|publisher=NJ: Princeton University Press|page=85|archive-url=https://archive.org/stream/ThomasBlomHansenTheSaffronWaveDemocracyABookZZ.org_201803/%5BThomas_Blom_Hansen%5D_The_Saffron_Wave_Democracy_a%28BookZZ.org%29_djvu.txt|archive-date=2 November 2009|isbn=9780691006710}}</ref>

== Death ==
In December 1967, Upadhyaya was elected president of the BJS. In the evening of 10 February 1968, at [[Lucknow]] he boarded the Sealdah Express for [[Patna]]. The train reached Mughalsarai at about 2:10 am but Upadhyaya was not on it.<ref name="Noorani"/> His body was found near Mughalsarai Junction railway station in [[Uttar Pradesh]]<ref name="Hindu_arrest"/> 10 minutes after the train arrived, lying near a traction pole 748 feet from the end of the platform where the train halted. He was clutching a five-rupee note in his hand. He was last seen alive at [[Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh|Jaunpur]] after midnight.<ref name="Noorani">{{cite book |last1=Noorani |first1=A.G. |title=Islam, South Asia and the Cold War |date=2012 |publisher=[[Tulika Books]]|url=https://thewire.in/history/deen-dayal-upadhyaya-death-mystery |access-date=5 June 2018|author1-link=A. G. Noorani }}</ref>

The [[Central Bureau of Investigation]] (CBI) investigation team found that Upadhyaya had been pushed out of the coach by robbers just before the train entered Mughalsarai station;<ref name="Hindu_arrest"/> a passenger travelling in the adjoining cabin of the same coach had seen a man (later identified as Bharat Lal) enter Upadhyaya's cabin at Mughalsarai and walk off with his file and bedding.<ref name="Noorani"/> The CBI later arrested Bharat Lal and his associate Ram Awadh , charging them with murder and theft. They confessed to pushing Updadhyaya out of the train after he caught them stealing his bag and threatened to report them to the police. However, the two accused were acquitted of the murder charges for lack of evidence.<ref name="Hindu_arrest">{{cite news |title=Probe murder of Deendayal Upadhyaya afresh: Swamy |url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/probe-murder-of-deendayal-upadhyaya-afresh-says-subramanian-swamy/article7245045.ece |last=Pandey |first=Deepak K. |access-date=5 June 2018 |work=The Hindu |date=25 May 2015}}</ref> Bharat Lal alone was convicted of the theft of the belongings and he appealed to the [[Allahabad High Court]]. The sessions judge had remarked in his judgment that "the offence of murder not having been proved against the accused, the problem of truth about the murder still remains".<ref name="Noorani"/>

Over 70 [[Member of Parliament|MP]]s demanded a commission of inquiry. The [[Government of India]] agreed to this and appointed Justice [[Y.V. Chandrachud]] of [[Bombay High Court]] as the sole member of the commission.<ref name="Noorani"/> Chandrachud reported in his findings that Upadhyaya was standing near a carriage door and pushed out of the running train, dying instantly by hitting a traction pole. He said that the death and theft constituted a single incident in law and that "I can say with a certain amount of confidence that nothing has come before me can support the accusation that there was any politics in Shri Upadhyaya's murder. Undoubtedly, he had political rivals but his death is the rash and extempore handiwork of mere thieves." The CBI, he said, had conducted the investigation with care and objectivity.<ref name="Noorani"/>

In 2017, Upadhyaya's niece and several politicians demanded a fresh probe in his murder.<ref name="FreshProbe">{{cite news |title=Cong asks for fresh probe into Deendayal Upadhyay's death |url=http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-cong-asks-for-fresh-probe-into-deendayal-upadhyay-s-death-2526228 |access-date=5 June 2018 |agency=[[Press Trust of India]] |publisher=DNA India |date=11 August 2017}}</ref>

== Legacy ==
[[File:Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya bust.jpg|thumb|Bust of Deendayal Upadhyaya]]
[[File:The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi offering Pushpanjali on the statue of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Ji, at Deendayal Urja Bhawan, in New Delhi on September 25, 2017.jpg|thumb|Statue of Deendayal Upadhyaya]]
According to his supporters, he worked to decolonise Indian political thought, and even a veteran Congressman of Uttar Pradesh, Sampoornanand, wrote in the preface of Upadhyaya's Political Dairy, describing him as "one of the most notable political leaders of our time”
.<ref>{{cite news |title= Behind the swayamsevak |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/deen-dayal-upadhyaya-behind-the-100-per-cent-swayamsevak-4853330/ |access-date=16 March 2020 |publisher=Indian Express |date=21 September 2017}}</ref> Another move considered important in the 1960s anti-Congress campaign, involved Deen dayal getting together with [[Ram Manohar Lohia]] to issue a Lohia-Deendayal joint statement in May 1964 envisioning a framework for common program.<ref name="Indian Express">{{cite news|date=17 October 2016|title=Lohia, Deendayal wanted Partition reversed|publisher=Indian Express|url=https://www.sundayguardianlive.com/opinion/6920-lohia-deendayal-wanted-partition-reversed/|access-date=16 March 2020}}</ref>

Since 2016 the BJP government under Prime Minister [[Narendra Modi]] named several public institutions after him.<ref name="ManufacturingIcon">{{cite news |last1=Chatterjee |first1=Manini |title=Manufacturing an icon – The Deendayal Upadhyaya blitzkrieg |url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/1170925/jsp/opinion/story_174790.jsp |access-date=5 June 2018 |publisher=The Telegraph |date=25 September 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/deen-dayal-upadhyay-hospital-to-become-a-medical-collegecumhospital/article6129230.ece|title=Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Hospital to become a medical college-cum-hospital|author=Bindu Shajan Perappadan |date=19 June 2014|access-date=23 March 2018 }}</ref> In Delhi, a road/marg has been named after Upadhyaya. In August 2017, the BJP state government in UP proposed renaming of Mughalsarai station in honour of Upadhyaya as his dead body was found near it.<ref name="ManufacturingIcon"/> Opposition parties protested this move in the [[Parliament of India]]. The [[Samajwadi Party]] protested with a statement that the station was being renamed after someone "who had made "no contribution to the [[Indian freedom struggle|freedom struggle]]".<ref name="Station_Protest">{{cite news |title=SP, BSP oppose renaming of Mughalsarai railway station |url=https://www.livemint.com/Politics/gjc6FSi3Qv8KphyWw1jtYI/SP-BSP-oppose-renaming-of-Mughalsarai-railway-station.html |access-date=5 June 2018 |agency=PTI |publisher=LiveMint |date=4 August 2017}}</ref> The Deen Dayal Research Institute deals with queries on Upadhyaya and his works.<ref>Kang, Bhavdeep (6 October 2014) [https://in.news.yahoo.com/who-is-this-man-who-features-in-every-modi-speech-063715210.html Who is this man who features in every Modi speech?] News.Yahoo.com</ref>

In 2018 a newly constructed [[cable-stayed bridge]] in Surat was named ''Pandit Dindayal Upadhyay Bridge'' in honor of him.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Pandit Dindayal Upadhya Bridge|url=https://www.suratmunicipal.gov.in/Departments/BridgeProjects?ProjectID=65|website=Surat Municipal Corporation|access-date=2020-05-24}}</ref>

On 16 February 2020 in Varanasi, Narendra Modi opened the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya Memorial Centre and unveiled a 63-foot statue of Upadhyaya, his tallest statue in the country.<ref name="DDUStone">{{cite news |title=PM Modi Launches, lays foundation stone of 50 projects worth Rs 1,254 crore in Varanasi|url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/pm-modi-to-unveil-63-foot-tall-statue-of-pt-deen-dayal-upadhyay-in-varanasi-42538 |access-date=17 February 2020 |publisher=TribuneIndia|date=16 February 2019}}</ref>

{{Gallery
|title=Commemorative Stamps issued in the memory of Pt. Deendayal Upadhyay
|width=140 |height=100
|align=center
|File:Deendayal Upadhyaya 1978 stamp of India.jpg|Stamp issued in 1978
|File:Deendayal Upadhyaya 2015 stamp of India.jpg|Stamp issued in 2015
|File:Deendayal Upadhyaya 2016 stamp of India.jpg|Stamp issued in 2016
|File:Deendayal Upadhyaya 2018 stamp of India.jpg|Stamp issued in 2018
}}

{{Gallery
|title=Growth of Bharatiya Jana Sangh from 1952-1967
|width=140 |height=100
|align=center
|File:Jan Sangh 1952.svg|Footprint of Bharatiya Jana Sangh in 1952
|File:Jan Sangh 1957.svg|Footprint of Bharatiya Jana Sangh in 1957
|File:Jan Sangh 1962.svg|Footprint of Bharatiya Jana Sangh in 1962
|File:Jan Sangh 1967.svg|Footprint of Bharatiya Jana Sangh in 1967
}}

== See also ==
* [[Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana]]
* [[Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana]]
* [[Deen Dayal Antyoday Upchar Yojna]]
* [[Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Indoor Stadium]]
* [[Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University]]
* [[Deendayal Upadhyaya Hospital, Shimla]]
* [[Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya Institute of Archaeology]]

== References ==
{{Commons category|Deendayal Upadhyaya}}
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*[http://nehrumemorial.nic.in/en/digital-archives/category/77-pandit-deendayal-upadhyaya-a-life-of-dedication.html A short glimpse at the life and times of Pt. Deendayal Upadhyaya] at [[Nehru Memorial Museum & Library|Nehru Memorial]]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Upadhyaya, Deendayal}}
[[Category:1916 births|Upadhyaya, Pandit]]
[[Category:1968 deaths|Upadhyaya, Pandit]]
[[Category:People from Mathura district]]
[[Category:Bharatiya Jana Sangh politicians]]
[[Category:Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh pracharaks]]
[[Category:Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar University alumni]]

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Deendayal Upadhyaya