In India, the Antyodaya Diwas is observed every year on September 25, to mark the birth anniversary of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya. Antyodaya means “uplifting the poorest of the poor” or “rise of the last person”. The day was declared by the Modi Government on September 25, 2014, and officially celebrated since 2015.
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About Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya:
- Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya, born in Mathura in 1916 was one of the key leaders of Bharatiya Jana Sangh from which the BJP later emerged. He was the leader of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh from 1953 to 1968.
- Deendayal Upadhyaya was a humanist, economist, journalist, philosopher and abled statesman.
- Deendayal Upadhyaya was introduced to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) by his classmate named Baluji Mahashabde
- Deendayal Upadhyaya cleared the civil services examination. He, however, didn’t join the service and became a volunteer of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
- In the 1940s, Deendayal Upadhyaya launched ‘Rashtra Dharma’, a monthly journal, from Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow for spreading the ideology of Hindutva nationalism. Later, he started ‘Panchjanya’, a weekly magazine, and a daily, ‘Swadesh’.
- Deendayal Upadhyaya’s philosophical idea of ‘Integral Humanism’ was adopted in 1965 as the official doctrine of the Jan Sangh and later the Bharatiya Janata Party.
- Deendayal Upadhyaya advocated ‘Samyanit Upabhog’ (sustainable consumption). He did not favour the exploitation of Mother Nature practised by the capitalist societies of the West.
- Deendayal Upadhyaya was found dead under mysterious circumstances near the Mughalsarai railway station in Uttar Pradesh in the wee hours of February 11, 1968. Later, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) found that he was killed by robbers.