About Syama Prasad Mookerjee

• Born in 1901, Syama Prasad Mookerjee was a prominent Indian politician, barrister and academician and served as the Minister for Industry and Supply in former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s Cabinet.

Role and Contributions: 

• Mookerjee made a significant contribution to the fields of education, politics, society and culture.
• He became a member of the Bengal Legislative Council in 1929 and was the youngest Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calcutta from 1934 to 1938.
• He became the finance minister of the Province of Bengal and was subsequently elected the national president of the All India Hindu Mahasabha, the Mahabodhi Society and the Royal Asiatic Society and he was also a member of the Constituent Assembly.
• He got the opportunity to serve the country as a minister in the first cabinet of independent India.
• On the issue of the 1949 Delhi Pact with Pakistani Prime Minister, he resigned from the Cabinet in 1950.
• He founded the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (Indian People’s Union) on October 21, 1951, at Delhi and became its first President.
• He supported the satyagraha of the Praja Parishad, which aimed to make J&K an integral part of India and he raised a strong slogan: “Two flags in one country, two legislations in one country, two heads in one country, unacceptable, unacceptable”.

Why in  News?

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tributes to Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee on his birth anniversary.