Introduction

• Deendayal Upadhyaya (25 September 1916 – 11 February 1968) was an Indian politician and leader of Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS), the forerunner of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

• Known by the epithet Panditji, he was a proponent of the Integral Humanism ideology.

• Upadhyaya started the monthly publication Rashtra Dharma in the 1940s to spread the ideals of Hindutva revival.

• He is known for drafting Jan Sangh’s official political doctrine, Integral Humanism, incorporating values of cultural-nationalism.

• He agreed with several Gandhian socialist principles, including sarvodaya (progress of all) and swadeshi (self-sufficiency).

Early life

• Upadhyaya was born in 1916 in the village of Nagla Chandraban, now called Deendayal Dham, in Mathura District, 30 km from Mathura, into a Brahmin family.

• His father, Bhagwati Prasad Upadhyaya, was an astrologer, and his mother, Rampyari Upadhyaya, was a homemaker and observant Hindu.

• Both parents died when he was eight years old, and he was brought up by his maternal uncle.

• His education was under the guardianship of his uncle and aunt, attending high school in Sikar.

• The Maharaja of Sikar awarded him a gold medal, Rs 250 to buy books, and a monthly scholarship of Rs 10.

• He did his Intermediate in Pilani, Rajasthan (now Birla School, Pilani).

• He earned a BA degree from Sanatan Dharma College, Kanpur.

• In 1939, he moved to Agra and joined St. John’s College, Agra, to pursue a master’s degree in English literature, but could not continue his studies due to family and financial issues.

• He did not take his MA exams.

• He became known as Panditji for appearing in the civil services examination while wearing traditional Indian dhoti-kurta and cap.