New Delhi, July 6: The Bharatiya Janata Party observed the Jayanti (birth anniversary) of the founder of Bharatiya Jana Sangh, Syama Prasad Mookerjee, on Friday, July 6. "On his Jayanti, I bow to Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee. Dr Mookerjee is remembered as a fine educationist, a wonderful administrator and a stalwart who fought for India's freedom as well as unity," Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, also sharing a photograph of the Jana Sangh founder with Babasaheb Ambedkar.

Born in Bengal on July 6, 1901, Syama Prasad Mookerjee, after completing his school education and MA in Bengali, moved to England in 1926 to study Law at Lincoln's Institute. After returning in 1934, at the age of 33, he became the youngest Vice Chancellor of the University of Calcutta.

He began his political career in 1929 when he was elected as a member of Legislative Council of Bengal as a Congress candidate representing Calcutta University. Mookerjee resigned the very next year when the Congress decided to boycott the legislature. He then contested the election as an Independent and got elected.

Image of Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee and Babasaheb Ambedkar Shared by PM Modi

He later joined the Hindu Mahasabha and became its President. Mookerjee also played an active role in the creation of West Bengal as he in 1946 demanded the partition of Bengal to prevent the inclusion of its Hindu-majority areas in a Muslim-dominated province.

Mookerjee strongly opposed Article 370 in Kashmir and led a march to Kashmir in 1953 and was arrested on May 11 while entering the state. On June 23, he died in the prison after reportedly suffering a heart attack.

After coming to power in 2014, the Narendra Modi government has actively advocated the ideology of Dr Mookerjee. The Opposition on the other hand continues to attack Mookerjee, saying he "not only opposed Quit India Movement but also offered help to British to crush it."

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 06, 2018 12:52 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).