Jammu Tawi, Oct 24: In a low-key function at Dogra Chowk, the state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) celebrated the 138th Birth Anniversary of its Ideologue and visionary leader Pt. Prem Nath Dogra. However, many of its senior leaders including state President Ravinder Raina, three former presidents and legislators Ashok Khajuria, Nirmal Singh and Shamsher Singh (former MP) were conspicuous by their absence. Further, the senior leaders who made the lateral entries to the BJP after the party's ascent to power post-2014, Sunil Sethi, Davinder Singh Rana, Sham Lal Sharma, SS Salathia, Rekha Mahajan, YV Sharma, BS Manhotra, Mukherjeet Sharma and many others, too skipped the function.
Popularly addressed with the Honorific of “Sher-e-Duggar”, Pandit Prem Nath Dogra remained a source of inspiration for Jana Sangh and BJP leaders for decades and the party swear by his ideals and struggle that inspired the people of Jammu region against the hegemony of Kashmir-centric leadership.
His Birthday function has been always celebrated by the rank-n-file of the party with enthusiasm when a series of functions were performed like Hawan and garlanding his statue in the morning, a social get-together inviting the prominent citizens of Jammu and Bhajan Sandhiya at Pt Prem Nath Dogra Bhawan at Kacchi Chawni.
Pandit Dogra had launched the historic “Ek Vidhan, Ek Nishan, Ek Pradhan” movement in the early 1950s along with Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee for total integration of Jammu and Kashmir with India.
Observers said there was anger among party workers against this diluted approach of the Party and its senior leaders who could not spare time to attend the birth anniversary function of “Sher-e-Duggar”, a source of inspiration for the BJP cadre throughout the country.
“We take ideological inspirations from Pandit Dogra, the founding father of erstwhile Jana Sangh, who had fought against the anti-Jammu approach of the then hostile state governments. But unfortunately, our senior leaders have no time to pay tributes to the great leader on his birth anniversary,” said a senior BJP leader on the condition of anonymity.
“Pandit Dogra was an institution in himself who, with his vision and leadership, led the historic “Ek Vidhan, Ek Nishan, Ek Pradhan” agitation in 1953. Sixteen patriotic citizens had laid down their lives in honour of the Tricolour at Hiranagar, Ramban, Jourian and Sunderbani. The consistent agitation resulted in the abolition of a separate Prime Minister. A separate flag and constitution exist and the party is committed to fulfilling the dream of Pandit Dogra,” he said.
This is not the first time the party leaders skipped such functions. In 2016, fearing their presence at the function to celebrate the birth anniversary of Pandit Dogra would annoy their coalition partner PDP; all Cabinet ministers of the BJP skipped the event even though most of them were present in Jammu that day.
In 2015 too, the BJP ministers, despite an invitation from the party to attend late Sh. Shyama Prashad Mukherjee's anniversary function did not spare time to pay tributes to one of the founding fathers of the Jana Sangh.
