The birth anniversary of Syama Prasad Mookerjee, the founder of Jana Sangh, is being observed today, 6 July.
Here are some lesser-known facts about Syama Prasad Mookerjee
He was born in the year 1901 to Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee and Jogmaya Devi. While his father was a barrister, his mother was also a scholar.
The Jana Sangh later became Bharatiya Janata Party and this is why he is also considered the founder of BJP
The Jana Sangh founder studied law and also had an MA in Bengali, along with a degree in English
It was for the first time during his tenure that the Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore delivered the convocation address at the varsity
Mookerjee joined the Bengal Legislative Council in 1929, representing Calcutta University from the Indian National Congress. However, he resigned a year later
He was the President of the Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha and opposed the Quit India movement, writing letters to the British governor suggesting ways to stop it
He was a member of Nehru’s cabinet, however he resigned in 1950 and a year later in 1951, he founded the Bharatiya Jana Sangh.