With Focus on Vikas, Deendayal Went Beyond Public vs Private

(On Deendayal Upadhyaya’s birth anniversary, The Quint is republishing this piece from its archives in commemoration of his contributions. It was originally published on 24 September 2016.)

In the lap of the lush-green Western Ghats, at Calicut or Kozhikode, the Bharatiya Janata Party is conducting its National Council meeting. This is the same Kozhikode, where some 49 years ago, its founder member and philosopher-cum-politician Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya had taken over as the president of the Jana Sangh, the earlier incarnation of BJP. Unfortunately, just within 40 days after he took over as the party president, at the age of 51, he was brutally murdered by some unknown persons.