Veteran Jana Sangh leader Nanaji Deshmukh passes away

File photo of Nanaji Deshmukh.

Veteran Bharatiya Jana Sangh leader Nanaji Deshmukh, who was a respected party ideologue and had a long association with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), passed away at the Sadguru Seva Sangh hospital at Chitrakoot in Uttar Pradesh this evening. He was 93.

Deshmukh, who had been keeping unwell for some time, had complained of chest pain this morning after he was taken to the hospital, where he breathed his last.

He was one of the rare Indian politicans who withdrew from active politics on attaining the age of 60, after which he devoted the rest of his life to constructive work. The present-day Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is the successor organisation to the Jana Sangh, was formed after he had already quit the political scene.

Former Prime Minister and BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee said that, in Deshmukh's death, the country had lost a dedicated social worker and a senior political leader.

He said he had worked with Deshmukh in the Jana Sangh and found he had the rare ability to remain calm in the midst of opposition and adverse circumstances. He said Deshmukh was never afraid of challenges and had a magnetic personality which won the loyalty of all those who came to know him.

Mr Vajpayee said Deshmukh had also been associated with Jayaprakash Narayan's movement and had gone underground to campaign against the Emergency imposed by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

BJP leader and former Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani said the death of Deshmukh was a great loss for the Sangh Parivar. He said Deshmukh would always be remembered for his practice of value-based politics.

BJP President Nitin Gadkari described Deshmukh as one of the early architects of the Jana Sangh who stood for true value-based politics. He said India had lost one of her greatest sons

"When the younger generation experiences a dearth of ideals, the life and mission of Nanaji serves as a living embodiment of sacrifice and dedication. His work for rural resurgence firstly at Gonda and later at Chitrakoot is the testimony of his unflinching commitment to the cause," he said.

Born on October 11, 1916 in Kadoli in the Parbhani district of Maharashtra, Deshmukh was deeply inspired by Lokmanya Tilak and was one of those who joined the RSS after the death of Dr Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, with whom he had come into contact in his early life. The RSS sent him to Uttar pradesh as a "pracharak".

Later, he was associated with journals launched by the RSS in 1947, but after Mahatma Gandhi's assassination, when the organisation was banned, the work had to move underground.

When the ban was lifted and the Jana Sangh was launched as a political party, Nanaji became its General Secretary in Uttar Pradesh. He went on to be associated with the Bhoodan movement of Vinobha Bhave and Jayaprakash Narayan's Total Revolution.

Deshmukh was one of the main architects of the Janata Party, of which the Jana Sangh was a part, and he was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Balrampur constituency in Uttar Pradesh. But he declined a ministerial berth offered by then Prime Minister Morarji Desai and in fact announced his retirement from politics soon after.

He remained associated with the Deendayal Research Institute that he himself had established in 1969. He also set up the Chitarkoot Gramodya Vishwavidyalaya in Chitrakoot. In 1999, he was nominated to the Rajya Sabha.

NNN