Seventy-five years after a political idea took root at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta paused on Wednesday, 21 October 2026 to mark a founding moment that her party traces as the origin of its entire ideological DNA.

In a post on X, CM Gupta extended greetings on the 75th Foundation Day of the Bharatiya Jan Sangh, writing that the party was established with the conviction of 'Nation First,' an unbreakable faith in Indian culture, and a resolve for the welfare of the last person in society. She credited Dr. Shyama Prasad Mookerjee and the organisation's dedicated workers for laying an ideological and organisational foundation that, she said, continues to inspire national service, good governance and public welfare to this day. The post carried the hashtag #जनसंघ_से_जनजन_तक — 'From Jan Sangh to every person.'

The founding moment: Ramlila Maidan, 21 October 1951

The Bharatiya Jan Sangh was formally established on 21 October 1951 at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan — a date BJP leaders now treat as a foundational anniversary on par with the party's own 1980 founding. The explicit guiding slogan at launch was 'Nation First,' paired with cultural nationalism and a sharp critique of the Congress model of governance that dominated Indian politics at the time.

At its helm stood Dr. Shyama Prasad Mookerjee, the Bengali statesman, former Union minister and founding president of the party. Mookerjee became its most iconic symbol when he died in detention in 1953 while championing the full integration of Jammu and Kashmir into India — a cause that BJP leaders invoke as prophetic vindication decades later. The Jan Sangh's journey continued through the 1977 Janata Party merger before its ideological successors founded the BJP in 1980.

Why BJP leaders make this anniversary a yearly ritual

Marking the Jan Sangh's founding day is a near-universal practice among BJP leaders — and intentionally so. By drawing a direct line from 1951 to the present, the party projects itself not as a post-Emergency creation but as the 75-year-old carrier of a civilisational political idea. It frames the narrative around ideological continuity: one thread running from Mookerjee's 'Nation First' slogan through the Atal Bihari Vajpayee era to the current leadership.

For a sitting Chief Minister, joining that chorus carries additional weight — it anchors local governance rhetoric in a longer historical legitimacy and signals solidarity with the national party's ideological positioning. CM Gupta's reference to 'the welfare of the last person in society' also threads Jan Sangh's foundational promise directly into the present language of welfare delivery.

As BJP units across the country observe the diamond-jubilee year of the Jan Sangh's founding, the anniversary is likely to be accompanied by organisational events that reinforce the party's historical narrative in the months ahead.