Hyderabad, Agency

Telangana BJP President N Ramchander Rao on Tuesday paid floral tributes to Syama Prasad Mookerjee on the occasion of his Balidan Diwas and called upon party workers to draw inspiration from his life of sacrifice, courage and commitment to national unity.

Addressing the media, Ramchander Rao said Dr Mookerjee's life stood as a shining example of dedication to the nation and unwavering commitment to national interests. He noted that the Telangana BJP State Office was named after Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee on the suggestion of veteran BJP leader L. K. Advani, who drew parallels between the historical situations of Hyderabad and Jammu and Kashmir in the 1950s.

He said that while Hyderabad was under the Nizam's rule, Jammu and Kashmir faced challenges of complete integration with India. Just as Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel played a decisive role in integrating Hyderabad and other princely states, DrMookerjee sacrificed his life for the complete integration of Jammu and Kashmir with the Indian Union, he added.

Ramchander Rao said Dr. Mookerjee played a historic role in ensuring that West Bengal remained an integral part of India and fought fearlessly for the protection of Hindus while opposing divisive and appeasement politics. He described him as a distinguished scholar and administrator who became the youngest Vice-Chancellor of University of Calcutta and always placed national interests above personal power or position.

He further stated that Dr. Mookerjee resigned from the cabinet of India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru as he disagreed with policies he believed compromised national interests, adding that his life continued to inspire BJP workers with the principle of "Nation First."

The BJP leader alleged that Congress, Communist parties and the All India Trinamool Congress had kept West Bengal away from development for decades and said the vision of Dr. Mookerjee was now being restored under BJP leadership.

With the nation set to observe the 125th birth anniversary of Dr. Mookerjee shortly, Ramchander Rao urged BJP workers in Telangana to draw inspiration from the party's growth in West Bengal and work towards forming a BJP government in the state.

Former Governors C. H. Vidyasagar Rao and Bandaru Dattatreya, along with senior BJP leaders and party workers, attended the programme.

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Jalgaon, Representative

Even now we see no reason to join the Bharatiya Janata Party. However, NCP leader Eknath Khadse has made a statement that if such a time comes, he will rejoin the BJP only after taking the advice of his leader Sharad Pawar.

Eknath Khadse, who was originally in the BJP but later joined Sharad Pawar's faction, will return home again, such discussions have been going on for some time now. However, Khadse has clarified that he has no such thoughts at present.

At a time when his political future was in darkness, Sharad Pawar made him an MLA for six years. After that we have not done anything without Pawar's advice. Khadse also said that even if the time comes to go back to BJP from now on, we will take Sharad Pawar's advice.

Girish Mahajan's permission is not required

Even though we have left the Bharatiya Janata Party, we have no personal enmity or opposition to anyone. He has a good relationship with the party's national president JP Nadda himself. Our leader Sharad Pawar also has this idea. We have met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh many times. In the form of Raksha Khadse, there is a BJP MP in our house. Therefore, if we want to join the BJP again, we do not need the permission of the state minister Girish Mahajan, Khadse said.

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