Social thinker, economist, sociologist, historian and journalist, Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay was born on September 25, 1916 at Nagla Chandrabhan, a small village of Mathura in Uttar Pradesh. He played vital role in the formation of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and became the President of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (present, Bharatiya Janata Party). He was against the ideology of Western secularism and Western democracy in India during the British rule. Although he accepted the concept of democracy and put his life in order to make democracy stronger.
Childhood and early life of Deendayal Upadhyay
His father’s name was Bhagwati Prasad Upadhyay and mother’s name was Ramaparyi. His father was working as assistant station master at Jalesar and mother had a simple and religious ideology. His younger brother’s name was Shivdayal Upadhyay. Unfortunately when he was only two and a half years old, his father’s untimely demise had shaken his family. After this his family had to live with his maternal grandfather. There his family was trying to recover from the suffering but due to tuberculosis his mother left the two small children and passed away. His suffering did not end here, when he was only 10 years old, his maternal grandfather also died.
Their maternal uncle looked after them like their own children. Deen Dayal also took the responsibility of the guardian of his younger brother, but unfortunately his brother got smallpox and died on November 18, 1934. Deendayal saw many ups and downs in this mild age, but proceeded in his life with firm determination. He passed the high school examination from Sikar. He was a brilliant student and received many gold medals and prestigious awards during school and college studies. He completed his school education from GD Birla College, Pilani, and graduated from Kanpur University’s Sanatan Dharma College. After this he passed the Civil Services Examination but for the sake of serving the society , he abandoned it.
Joined RSS
Deendayal Upadhyay was highly devoted to social service from the early years of his life. In the year 1937, during his college days, he joined the RSS. There he came into contact with Dr. Hedgewar, the founder of the organization and dedicated himself to the organization completely. After completing college education in the year 1942, he was trained in RSS education and went to Nagpur to participate in the 40-day camp.
Jana Sangh
The Indian Jana Sangh was established by Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee in the year 1951 and Deendayal Upadhyaya was appointed as its first Secretary-General. He continued to remain general secretary of Jansangh till December 1967. Impressed by the qualities of his performance, intelligence and speed, Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee proudly said to him: ‘If I have two Deen Dayals, then I can change the political face of India’. But suddenly in the year 1953, due to the demise of Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, the responsibility of the entire organization came on the young shoulders of Deendayal Upadhyay. In this way, he served Jana Sangh as general secretary for nearly 15 years. Deendayal Upadhyay was elected president of Jan Sangh in Calicut in December 1967.
As a writer and Journalist
He was a great writer and Journalist. He worked in monthly magazine “Rashtradharama” in 1940s. This magazine was published from Lucknow. While in RSS, he started a weekly newspaper ‘Panchjanya’ and a daily newspaper ‘Swadesh’. He wrote the play ‘Chandragupta Maurya’ and the biography of Shankaracharya in Hindi. He translated the biography of Dr.K B Hedgewar from Marathi to Hindi. Apart from it, his other famous literary works are ‘Samrat Chandragupta’, ‘Jagatguru Shankaracharya’, ‘Akhand Bharat kyon hai’, rashtra jeevan kee samsayein’, ‘Rashtra Chintan’ and ‘the Rashtra jeevan kee disha’, etc.
On December 19, 1967, Deendayal Upadhyay was elected the President of the Jana Sangh. He died on 11th February, 1968, at the Mughal Sarai Railway Station in the mysterious circumstances. His untimely and suspected death shocked the nation.