A picture of Jan Sangh leader Deendayal Upadhyay appears on the official letterhead of Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar, The Telegraph reported on Tuesday. A letter from Javadekar to university vice chancellors, dated October 25, shows the picture just below the national emblem.
A private individual’s photograph being used in government communication is unusual, and three senior officials told the newspaper that they did not remember any such previous instance.
In August, too, the Bharatiya Janata Party had asked its elected representatives in Rajasthan to use a logo featuring Upadhyay’s photograph on their official letterheads, the Hindustan Times had reported. The Congress had accused the Centre of misusing official machinery to push the Hindutva ideology in the country.
The Jan Sangh was a precursor to the BJP and the political arm of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
Earlier this month, the Uttar Pradesh government renamed the Mughalsarai Railway Station to Deen Dayal Upadhyay Station. On August 4, the Opposition had protested against the decision. The Samajwadi Party claimed that the station was being renamed after someone who had made “no contribution to the freedom struggle”.
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