Shyama Prasad Mukherjee

Shyama Prasad Mukherjee (6 July 1901 – 23 June 1953) was an Indian barrister, educationalist, politician, Hindutva activist, and a minister in the state and national governments, appointed by Nehru the first Prime Minister of India. Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee, a nationalist leader who emphasised organised self-reliance over impulsive agitation, took a pragmatic stance during the Quit India Movement to prevent famine and administrative collapse in Bengal. He later became India’s first Minister for Industry and Supply in Jawaharlal Nehru’s cabinet (1947–1950) and resigned over the Nehru–Liaquat Pact, citing concerns about the treatment of Hindus in East Pakistan. In 1953, he died in custody in Jammu and Kashmir while protesting the state’s permit system, declaring that there should be “one nation, one constitution, and one flag.” After falling out with Nehru, protesting against the Liaquat–Nehru Pact, Mukherjee resigned from Nehru's cabinet. With the help of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, he founded the Bharatiya Jana Sangh in 1951.

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 with a heart attack and shifted to a hospital but died a day later. Mukherjee’s ideals of cultural nationalism, civilizational unity and fearless national service continue to influence Indian political thought. The Bharatiya Janata Party recognises him as a principal ideological forerunner, while many scholars view him as one of the earliest articulators of a dhārmic vision of the Indian nation-state. Provided by Wikipedia