PM Modi remembers 'devout patriot and proud nationalist' Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee on his death anniversary. Read here

Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter to pay his tribute to the founder of Bharatiya Jana Sangh, Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee, on the occasion of his 66th Death Anniversary on Sunday. 

In his tweet, PM Modi remembered the 'devout patriot and proud nationalist' who devoted his life for India's unity and integrity. He further spoke about his passion for strong and united India, which PM Modi added continues to inspire and give strength to the party to serve the nations. 

READ: Home Minister Amit Shah Pays Tribute To BJP Icon Dr Syama Prasad Mukherjee On His 66th Death Anniversary

Earlier, Home Minister Amit Shah also took to Twitter and paid tribute to Dr Mookerjee and spoke about his contributions and sacrifices towards India. 

Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh also paid his respects at Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee's memorial at Kolkata's Keoratala crematorium.

Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee was born in Kolkata. He was the founder of Jan Sangh and served as the Minister of Commerce and Industries from 1951 to 1952 in former PM Jawaharlal Nehru ministry. 

He marked his political journey with Congress only to stand against the party for the rest of his life. He got elected to the West Bengal assembly as a Congress member in 1929. But, he resigned from the Congress a year later because the party decided to boycott the British legislative process. He had several disagreements with Nehru, but nonetheless, he was inducted into the Interim Central Government in 1947 as a Minister for Industry and Supplies. During his tenure, he laid the foundation of India’s industrialisation by introducing some flagship factories across the country, one of which was Bhilai Steel Plant.

Following Gandhi's assassination in 1948, he founded the Bharatiya Jana Sangh on 21 October 1951 in Delhi after prior consultation with the RSS chief M.S. Golwalkar and became its first president.

The Jan Sangh was founded on some basic principles — promotion of Uniform Civil Code, ban on cow slaughter and ending the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.