Bhubaneswar, Jun 23: Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Sunday paid tributes to Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee on his death anniversary.

Majhi, along with Odisha Assembly Speaker Surama Padhy and Law Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan, offered floral tributes at Mookerjee's statue at a park named after him in Satsang Vihar here.

The Chief Minister also planted a tree sapling to mark the occasion.

"On the Balidan Diwas of the great nationalist thinker and founder of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, Dr. Shyamaprasad Mukherjee, I paid homage to his statue and planted a tree in his memory," the Chief Minister said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

ମହାନ ରାଷ୍ଟ୍ରବାଦୀ ଚିନ୍ତକ ତଥା ଭାରତୀୟ ଜନସଂଘର ସଂସ୍ଥାପକ ଡ଼ଃ ଶ୍ୟାମାପ୍ରସାଦ ମୁଖାର୍ଜୀଙ୍କ ବଳିଦାନ ଦିବସରେ ତାଙ୍କ ପ୍ରତିମୂର୍ତ୍ତିରେ ଶ୍ରଦ୍ଧାଞ୍ଜଳି ଅର୍ପଣ କରିବା ସହ ତାଙ୍କ ସ୍ମୃତି ଉଦ୍ଦେଶ୍ୟରେ ବୃକ୍ଷ ରୋପଣ କଲି । pic.twitter.com/sMI8nMl9d4
— Mohan Charan Majhi (@MohanMOdisha) June 23, 2024

The State government is observing Mookerjee's death anniversary as 'Balidan Diwas'.

Mookerjee, an eminent barrister and academician, served as India's first Minister for Industry and Supply (currently known as Minister of Commerce and Industries) in Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's cabinet.

He founded the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the ideological parent organisation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 1951.

According to the BJP's official website, on the issue of the Delhi pact with Likayat Ali Khan, Mookerjee resigned from the Cabinet on April 6, 1950. Later on October 21, 1951, Mookerjee founded the Bharatiya Jana Sangh in Delhi and became its first president.
Mookerjee went to visit Kashmir in 1953 and was arrested on May 11. He died under detention on June 23, 1953.

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