Haryana Cabinet Minister Anil Vij on Friday said a state-level function would be organised on the birth anniversary of Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee on July 6.
Union Health Minister and former BJP national president Jagat Prakash Nadda will address the event. Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, BJP state president Dr Archana Gupta and several other prominent leaders from the state will also attend the programme.
Minister Anil Vij held a meeting of party workers at the BPS Planetarium in Ambala Cantonment to review preparations for the programme and issued directions regarding the event.
Vij said the Central Government had chosen Ambala Cantonment for the event because Dr Mookerjee had halted there during his journey from Delhi to Kashmir. He had addressed a public meeting in Ambala Cantonment before proceeding to Kashmir. Therefore, it has been decided to commemorate his birth anniversary on a grand scale in Ambala.
He said Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee, who served as the Industry Minister in India’s first government, became dissatisfied with the functioning of the Congress and felt the need to establish a separate political party. Consequently, he founded the Bharatiya Jan Sangh.
Vij recalled that, at the time, anyone wishing to enter Kashmir had to obtain a permit from the Jammu and Kashmir government. However, Mookerjee declared that he would travel without a permit because Kashmir was an integral part of India. Mookerjee had opposed the separate constitutional status granted to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370, arguing that “Ek Desh Mein Do Pradhan, Do Vidhan, Do Nishan Nahin Rahenge.”
He began his journey from Delhi by train and stopped at Ambala Cantonment. There, he addressed a public gathering at the Grain Market and also visited the homes of some party workers. He arrived in Ambala on May 8, departed for Punjab the following day, and on May 11 was arrested by the Jammu and Kashmir government and imprisoned. He later passed away under mysterious circumstances.
Anil Vij said Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee’s birth anniversary would be celebrated with great enthusiasm in Ambala Cantonment on July 6, and a large number of party workers had gathered on Friday to prepare for the programme.
