Syama Prasad Mukherjee

Syama Prasad Mukherjee
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office
17 April 1952 – 23 June 1953
Succeeded bySadhan Gupta
ConstituencyCalcutta South East, West Bengal
1st Union Minister of Commerce and Industry
In office
15 August 1947 – 6 April 1950
Prime MinisterJawaharlal Nehru
Preceded byposition established
Succeeded byNityanand Kanungo
Member of the Indian Constituent Assembly
In office
9 December 1946 – 24 January 1950
ConstituencyWest Bengal
Founder-President of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh
In office
1951 (1951)–1952 (1952)
Preceded byposition established
Succeeded byMauli Chandra Sharma
Finance Minister of Bengal Province
In office
12 December 1941 – 20 November 1942
Prime MinisterA. K. Fazlul Haq
Member of the Bengal Legislative Council
In office
1929–1947[1]
ConstituencyCalcutta University
Vice-Chancellor of Calcutta University
In office
8 August 1934 – 8 August 1938[2]
Preceded byHassan Suhrawardy
Succeeded byMuhammad Azizul Haque
President of Akhil Bhartiya Hindu Mahasabha
In office
1943–1947
Personal details
Born(1901-07-06)6 July 1901
Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India
(present-day Kolkata, West Bengal, India)
Died23 June 1953(1953-06-23) (aged 51)
Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India
Political partyBharatiya Jana Sangh
Other political
affiliations
Hindu Mahasabha[3]
Spouse
Sudha Devi
(m. 1922; died 1933)
Children5
Parent(s)Ashutosh Mukherjee (father)
Jogamaya Devi Mukherjee (mother)
RelativesChittatosh Mookerjee (nephew)
Alma materPresidency College (BA, MA, LLB, D.Litt.)
Lincoln's Inn
Profession
Signature
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Syama Prasad Mookerjee (6 July 1901 – 23 June 1953) was an Indian barrister, educationist, politician, activist, social worker, and a minister in the state and national governments. Noted for his opposition to Quit India movement within the independence movement in India, he later served as India's first Minister for Industry and Supply (currently known as Minister of Commerce and Industries) in Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's cabinet after breaking up with the Hindu Mahasabha. After falling out with Nehru,[4] protesting against the Liaquat–Nehru Pact, Mukherjee resigned from Nehru's cabinet.[5] With the help of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh,[6] he founded the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the predecessor to the Bharatiya Janata Party, in 1951.[7]

He was also the president of Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha from 1943 to 1946. He was arrested by the Jammu and Kashmir Police in 1953 when he tried to cross the border of the state. He was provisionally diagnosed of a heart attack and shifted to a hospital but died a day later.[8][9] Since the Bharatiya Janata Party is the successor to the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, Mookerjee is also regarded as the founder of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by its members.[10]

  1. ^ Mishra 2004, p. 96.
  2. ^ "Our Vice-Chancellors". University of Calcutta. Archived from the original on 1 January 2020. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
  3. ^ "'SP Mukherjee was part of Muslim League govt in Bengal in 1940s': Cong hits back at PM". The Times of India. 7 April 2024.
  4. ^ Kingshuk Nag (18 November 2015). Netaji: Living Dangerously. AuthorsUpFront | Paranjoy. pp. 53–. ISBN 978-93-84439-70-5.
  5. ^ "Dr. Shyama Prasad Mookerjee". www.shyamaprasad.org. Archived from the original on 21 July 2022. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  6. ^ "What was the Liaquat-Nehru pact, due to which Syama Prasad Mookerjee resigned from the Union cabinet?". The Indian Express. 23 June 2023. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
  7. ^ "Bharatiya Jana Sangh | Indian political organization". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 20 February 2023. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  8. ^ Bakshi 1991, pp. 278–306.
  9. ^ Smith 2015, p. 87.
  10. ^ "History of the Party". www.bjp.org. Archived from the original on 12 August 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2019.