UP Schools Given BJP’s Booklet Hailing RSS Leaders As ‘Mahapurush’

The 70-page booklet will be used for an upcoming competitive exam for class 9 and 10 students.

Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. 

(Photo: Twitter @Sanjay Nirupam) 

To commemorate the birth centenary of Deendayal Upadhyaya, schools across Uttar Pradesh are handing out to students the Samanya Gyan Pratiyogita – a 70-page booklet about the party and its ideologies.

The booklet will be used for an upcoming competitive exam for the class 9 and 10 students and contains questions on leaders like Veer Savarkar, Deendayal Upadhyaya, KB Hedgewar, Syama Prasad Mookerjee, Nanaji Deshmukh, and on topics like nationalism, Hindutva and major schemes launched by the Centre and state government, as Indian Express reported.

However, while it refers to BJP and RSS ideologues and stalwarts as “mahapurush”, the same title has not been extended to Jawaharlal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi, almost coming like a snub after president Kovind also didn’t mention Nehru in his inaugural speech.

The booklet was launched by party president Amit Shah and UP CM Adityanath on Monday at the state party headquarters. The exam will be held on 26 August, across various centres in UP, most of which are private schools.

The exam will have 100 objective questions and students will have 90 minutes to answer. The registration is for Rs 5 and the last day to register is 16 August.

Over 9 lakh students are expected to participate, as the organising committee led by BJP state secretary Subhash Yaduvansh said to Indian Express. Around 2 lakh party workers have been engaged by the party to conduct the exam, across the state.

About the emphasis on RSS leaders, Yaduvansh said:

Upcoming generations should know about the great personalities and heroes of history, about whom people were not told so far. Also, it is a fact that RSS is the largest social organisation. All facts in the booklet are correct and questions will be asked from it.

He denied that the booklet was promoting a Hindutva lifestyle, but said:

But people should know about Hindutva because it is good lifestyle.

He added that nearly 7 lakh booklets have been printed for distribution and the results of the exam will be declared on 5 September and the top 10 rank holders from each district will receive a medal and certificate on 25 September – Deendayal Upadhyaya’s birth anniversary.

The Exam Syllabus

The topics covered in the book are varied. Among the BJP and RSS leaders, there is a biography of Deendayal Upadhayaya as well as brief profiles of Swami Vivekananda, BR Ambedkar, Guru Govind Singh, Rani Laxmi Bai to name a few.

The RSS has been referred to as the “largest social organisation in the world”.

Social issues like child labour, maternal and infant mortality rates, child marriage, illiteracy, sex discrimination, casteism, dowry, open defecation have been touched upon.

About Modi, it mentions that the PM is among the “most powerful and popular leaders of the world” and he hails from Varanasi. It also highlights that President Kovind is from Kanpur.

(Photo: The Quint)

Regarding India’s “firsts”, it lists the first governor general, president, vice-president, deputy PM, first woman chief minister but nowhere does it mention Jawaharlal Nehru – the first Prime Minister.

The ‘Make in India’, demonetisation and other schemes introduced by the Modi government are also touched upon. Decisions of ‘One Rank-One Pension’, GST, the Army’s surgical strike and PM’s ‘Mann ki Baat’ are also mentioned.

The fact that Atal Bihari Vajpayee was elected to Parliament from four different states and that he was the PM who formed a government in alliance with the maximum number of parties and with the largest Cabinet is also elucidated.

(Photo: The Quint)

Yogi Adityanath, the new CM of UP is lauded for his schemes like anti-Romeo squads, farm loan waivers, and for renaming of airport civil terminals in Agra, Gorakhpur after Deendayal Upadhyaya.

The booklet also has questions on Ramayana, Mahabharata, Gita and various religious issues.

Sample Questions

(Photo: The Quint)

• Yogi Adityanath is CM of which state? (Answer: Uttar Pradesh)
• Who was PM when Deendayal Upadhyaya died? (Answer: Indira Gandhi)
• Who was the first PM to be called to court and punished? (Answer: PV Narasimha Rao)
• Swami Vivekananda led which religion in ‘Dharma Sabha’ in Chicago? (Answer: Hindutva)
• Which Muslim revolutionary was “slaughtered like carrots and radishes” by Maharaja Suheldeo? (Answer: Syyed Salar Masood Ghazi)
• Where is Ram Janmaboomi?