What was the contribution of Shyama Prasad Mukherjee to politics? Why did he resign from the Hindu Mahasabha in 1948 and from Nehru’s cabinet in 1950?
Shyama Prasad Mukherjee (July 6, 1901 – June 23, 1953) was born in Calcutta. His father, Ashutosh Mukherjee, was a judge at the Calcutta High Court and later served as the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calcutta. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee is known as a lawyer, educationist, and politician. He received his early education in Calcutta and completed his legal studies in England. He served as the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calcutta from 1934 to 1938, becoming the youngest person to hold this position. In 1938, the University of Calcutta conferred upon him an honorary D.Litt. degree.
Political Contribution
His political career can be divided into two phases:
A. Political Contribution before Independence
Shyama Prasad Mukherjee entered active politics in 1929 by joining the Congress. That same year, he was elected as a member of the Bengal Legislative Council as a Congress candidate. However, in 1930, the Congress called for a boycott of the Bengal Legislative Council; consequently, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee resigned from both the Bengal Legislative Council and the Congress. Thus, he remained a member of the Congress for only two years. Subsequently, in 1930, he contested the election again as an independent candidate and was elected to the Bengal Legislative Council. He was also elected to the Bengal Legislative Council as an independent candidate in the elections of 1937 and 1946. In 1939, he joined the Hindu Mahasabha. When the Congress ministry resigned from the Bengal government in 1939, a government led by Fazlul Haq—representing the Krishak Praja Party—was formed in 1941. In this administration, he served as Finance Minister from 1941 to 1942, representing the Hindu Mahasabha. Due to restrictions imposed by the British, he resigned from his position as Finance Minister in 1942 and subsequently played a leading role in providing relief during the devastating floods that struck the Midnapore district that same year.
In 1946, he was elected to the Bengal Legislative Council for the fourth time and was also chosen as a member of the Constituent Assembly. That same year, he advocated for a “Bengali Hindu Home Rule“—which included the partition of Bengal—to ensure that the Hindu community would not fall under the control of the Muslim-majority East Pakistan following the partition. With the partition of India, his membership in the Bengal Legislative Council came to an end. Thus, he remained a member of the Bengal Legislative Assembly continuously from 1929 to 1947, with the province of Bengal serving as the focal point of his political career.
B. Political Contribution After Independence
Following independence, on August 15, 1947, Jawaharlal Nehru formed his new cabinet, which consisted of 15 ministers. Among them, four were non-Congress members:
1. Sardar Baldev Singh (Shiromani Akali Dal) – Minister of Defence
2. R. K. Shanmukham Chetty (Justice Party) – Minister of Finance
3. B. R. Ambedkar (All India Scheduled Castes Federation) – Minister of Law
4. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee (Hindu Mahasabha) – Minister of Industry and Supply
Consequently, on August 15, 1947, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee became the first Minister of Industry and Supply of independent India, representing the Hindu Mahasabha.
Differences with the Hindu Mahasabha
Shyama Prasad Mukherjee first became a member of the Hindu Mahasabha in 1939. He served as its working president from 1940 to 1942 and as its full president from 1944 to 1948. Ultimately, in 1948, he resigned from the Hindu Mahasabha due to the following disagreements:
1. He advocated for the inclusion of non-Hindus as members of the Hindu Mahasabha, but the organization did not accept this proposal.
2. Following the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi in 1948, the Hindu Mahasabha became indirectly embroiled in controversy; consequently, he no longer wished to remain associated with the organization.
Differences with Nehru
He disagreed with the Nehru-Liaquat Pact of 1950. Under this agreement, both India and Pakistan had committed to the protection of their respective minorities. In protest, he resigned from the Nehru cabinet in April 1950.
Subsequently, on October 21, 1951, he founded the Bharatiya Jana Sangh in Delhi. In 1977, the Bharatiya Jana Sangh merged into the newly formed Janata Party. Following the dissolution of the Janata Party in 1979, the Bharatiya Jana Sangh was reconstituted on April 6, 1980, as the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Opposition to Kashmir’s Special Status
He opposed the special constitutional status granted to Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution. He coined the slogan: “A single country cannot have two constitutions, two heads of state, and two national flags.” Sheikh Abdullah, the Prime Minister of Kashmir, had made it mandatory for people arriving from other parts of India to obtain a permit to enter Kashmir. To protest against this permit system and the special status of Kashmir, he traveled to Kashmir, where he was arrested. He passed away in prison on June 23, 1953, following a heart attack.
Thus, his most significant contribution was the founding of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh in 1951, which continues to operate today as the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Image Courtesy: Wikipedia
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