UNC – ₹100 – SINGLE QA – BIRTH CENTENARY OF PANDIT DEENDAYAL UPADHYAYA (1916-2016)

Well-known thinker of right-wing ideology, philosopher and co-founder of Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS, forerunner of Bharatiya Janata Party), Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya was born on 25th September in 1916 in Mathura. After his high school education from High school at Pilani Jhunjhunu, intermediate education at Birla College, Pilani and Bachelors in Arts at Sanatan Dharma College, Kanpur, he came into contact with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) while pursuing his graduation. He became an RSS pracharak in 1942. He was instrumental, along with Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, to the foundation of the BJS in 1951. He served BJS as national general secretary. He has been the source of ideological guidance and moral inspiration for the BJP since its inception. He started the monthly Rashtra Dharma publication from Lucknow in the 1940s, using it to spread Hindutva ideology. Later he started the weekly Panchjanya and daily Swadesh. Deendayal died under mysterious circumstances near Mughalsarai Junction railway station in February 1968. After 50 years of his death, that railway station was renamed after him as “Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction” by the government in 2018. Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya’s ideals inspire everyone to serve the poor and ensure a positive difference in their lives.