Modi govt fulfilled Mookerjee’s dream by abrogating Art 370: CM

Lucknow: Paying tribute to the founder of the Bharatiya Jan Sangh, Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee, on his 125th birth anniversary on Monday, chief minister Yogi Adityanath described him as “a great son of ‘Bharat Mata’, a distinguished freedom fighter and an educationist”.Highlighting Mookerjee’s opposition to Article 370, the CM said that he took a stand against the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s “policy of appeasement” as it challenged the unity of the country.“The Bharatiya Janata Party under Prime Minister

Narendra Modi

fulfilled Dr Mookerjee’s dream by abrogating Article 370 in

Kashmir

in 2019,” Yogi said.On Monday morning, the CM garlanded Mookerjee’s statue at the Civil Hospital.“Dr Mookerjee played a prominent role in the freedom movement.

When attempts were being made to make Bengal a part of Pakistan, he stood firmly against it. If present-day West Bengal is a part of India, then among the great leaders who dedicated themselves to the movement and raised their voices against those attempts, Dr Mookerjee’s name is prominent,” he said.“As a minister in independent India, he gave priority to implementing the food policy and industrial policy,” the CM added.

Describing his contributions to the country, the CM said that Dr Mookerjee renounced politics of power and walked out of the govt in opposition to Nehru’s policies.“After the formation of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, he proclaimed, ‘Ek desh mein do vidhan, do pradhan aur do nishan nahin chalenge’, in defence of the nation’s unity and opposed the permit system in Kashmir. He was arrested for this, and in 1953, he laid down his life in Kashmir,” the CM added.“The very West Bengal, which was saved from the bloody clutches of Pakistan due to the efforts of Dr Mookerjee, is today being governed by the

BJP

, which regards SP Mookerjee as its ideal. The double-engine govt is working for the restoration of sites associated with Dr Mookerjee in West Bengal,” he said.