Slamming Congress on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Syama Prasad Mukherjee on Wednesday, BJP national president JP Nadda said that only the grand-old party and then Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru refused to order an inquiry into the “mysterious” death of the Bhartiya Jana Sangha (BJS) founder. The remarks of the BJP chief came after paying tributes to Mukherjee.
Nadda said, «He (Syama Prasad Mukherjee) went to Jammu and Kashmir without a permit on 11 May. He was arrested on the same date. He died in the Srinagar jail on 23 June in a mysterious way. His mother had written a letter to Nehru demanding an enquiry. Only Congress and Nehru know why the enquiry was not conducted.»
«He founded the BJS as he was saddened by the appeasement policy of Nehru. He said that the imposition of Article 370 is harmful to the country. He gave a slogan against it,» he added. Nadda said, «We lost a leader but we kept on marching to make his journey come true. Article 370 was scrapped by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. This is a true tribute to BJS.»
The BJP chief said that a «true tribute» to the BJS founder as a party worker would be to «invest the lives to strengthen our country».
Mukherjee served as the Minister for Industry and Supply in Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru›s cabinet. BJS, founded in 1951, is the ideological parent organisation of the BJP.
According to the BJP›s official website, on the issue of the Delhi pact with Likayat Ali Khan, Mukherjee resigned from the Cabinet on 6 April 1950. Later on 21 October 1951, he founded BJS in Delhi and became its first president. Mukherjee went to visit Kashmir in 1953 and was arrested on 11 May. He died as «detenu» on 23 June 1953.