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Open Forum Deendayalji: A Pragmatist By Arun Sathe Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya?s 89th birth anniversary was celebrated on September 25. On the said occasion, Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee?s utterances particularly in respect of Deendayalji were highlighted by media in a different context. But those people who have seen and heard Deendayalji are aware about his approach to various problems. It is true that Deendayalji was not a dogmatic person. He was a dynamic and thinking person and was always prepared to adopt new ideas. I have seen and heard him on a number of occasions. I remember those good old earlier days. All the important leaders of the then Bharatiya Jana Sangh whether Deendayalji, Atalji or Jagannathrao Joshi used to stay at Kathak Bhavan in Mumbai on their visit to Mumbai. I was doing post-graduation in the early 60's from Bombay University. I was entrusted with the work of ABVP then and was secretary of the Bombay and Maharashtra ABVP. Some of us used to go to the Kathak Bhavan quite often, which was then Bharatiya Jana Sangh?s headquarters in Maharashtra. In those days Leftist movement was very strong particularly in the textile mill area of central Bombay and most of the intellectuals were connected with socialist movements. In the college where I was studying most of the professors of the renowned Economics department were connected with the socialist movement. The general impression was that Jana Sangh has no economic thought and that it is a Ponga Pandit party. Our effort always used to be to invite the Jana Sangh leaders on college platforms with a view to make known their thoughts, ideology to the student community. Once we decided to invite Deendayalji in our college for inaugurating the planning forum and Deendayalji agreed to speak about the then economic situation in the country and the way out of it. Those who heard him were very impressed. The basic thought which he gave was mainly in respect of how the purchasing power of the rural masses will improve, which will pave the way for economic development of the country. I still remember he told the audience that solution to the Indian economic problem does not lie in any dogmatic thinking i.e. neither in capitalism nor in socialism or communism, which concentrates economic power in the hands of a few or in the hands of the State, but lies in economics of pragmatism. The word he used was yatharthwad. If we analyse economic policies pursued by the Vajpayee government, in its six-year tenure, we can understand the basics in the context referred above. The approach was rural development and massive expenditure on infrastructure development particularly roads which helped generate employment and also controlled inflationary tendencies in the economy. I also had an occasion to hear Deendayalji?s analysis about the Muslim problem in India in the context of partition. This was in one of the Sangh Shiksha Varg in the 60?s, he analysed and explained the meaning of the terms Dar-ul-Harab, Dar-ul-Islam etc. in a lucid way and I still remember that he said in no uncertain terms that a political defeat is necessary to a certain element who advocated the two-nation theory. He supported the proposition of Dr Lohia of a Confederation of India and Pakistan on this sub-continent, which will ultimately pave the way for Akhand Bharat. He was a nationalist to the core and democratic in his approach. I being a Zilla Pracharak, we discussed the issue then and we thought that a candidate against Fakruddin Ali Ahmed should be put up by Jana Sangh on infiltration issue and the right candidate could be Shri Prasannalal Chowdhary, a well-known literary figure of Assam, and President of Assam Sahitya Sabha. Another occasion when I could see his foresight was when I was an RSS Zilla Pracharak in Assam during the 1967 general elections. The late Shri Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed was a Congress candidate from Barpeta constituency. Bangladeshi infiltration was a burning issue then also. Shri Ramesh Kumar Mishra was looking after the Bharatiya Jana Sangh?s affairs in Assam in those days. Shri Devdas Apte was the Organising secretary for Bramhaputra valley. When both of them visited Barpeta for Jana Sangh work, I being a Zilla Pracharak, discussed the issue then and we thought that a candidate against Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed should be put up by Jana Sangh on infiltration issue and the right candidate could be Shri Prasannalal Chowdhary a well-known literary figure of Assam and President of Assam Sahitya Sabha. Shri Chowdhary was an RSS Sanghachalak of Barpeta town. Shri Ramesh Kumar Mishra then talked to Pandit Deendayalji and Bhaurao Deorasji, who was then in-charge of the RSS work for Assam and other eastern States. Shri Chowdhary was put up as a candidate and that election helped Bharatiya Jana Sangh to establish its roots in Assam. The last I saw Pandit Deendayalji was after he became Bharatiya Jana Sangh president. After the 1967 general elections, the Jana Sangh had become a major political force to reckon with in India. Pandit Deendayalji was in Calcutta on his way to Cuttack. We had our Pracharak baithak in Calcutta, held under the guidance of Shri Bhaurao Deoras in south Calcutta at Dr Sujit Dhar?s residence. Shri Deendayalji came there to see Shri Bhaurao Deoras and stayed in the meeting throughout. Even though he had become president of the Jana Sangh his attitude and approach was like any other Pracharak. He was a simple but affable person. This was the impression I had of Deendayalji. I am sure his personality and thought would always be a guiding force for years to come for the BJP and other allied organisations. (Writer is a member of the National Executive Committee of BJP.)

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