CM Yogi pays tribute to Munshi Premchand on birth anniversary
Synopsis
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath paid tribute to Hindi literary legend Munshi Premchand on his 146th birth anniversary, calling him the 'Emperor of Novels' and crediting his works as an enduring source of inspiration for human values and nation-building.
Key Takeaways
CM Yogi Adityanath posted a tribute to Munshi Premchand on his birth anniversary, July 31, 2026 .
He referred to Premchand as 'Upanyas Samrat' — 'Emperor of Novels' — a widely used honorific for the writer.
Munshi Premchand (1880–1936) was born in Lamhi near Varanasi , Uttar Pradesh, making the tribute locally significant.
His celebrated works include the novels Godan and Gaban , which depicted rural poverty and social struggle in colonial India.
Political tributes to Premchand on July 31 are a consistent annual tradition across India's leadership.
A writer who gave voice to the voiceless — the farmer crushed by debt, the widow trapped by custom, the child sold into labour — turns 146 today, and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath marked the occasion with a public tribute to Munshi Premchand on Friday, July 31, 2026.
Posting in Hindi, CM Yogi saluted the writer he called 'Upanyas Samrat' — 'Emperor of Novels' — saying Premchand 'gave powerful expression to the sensibilities, struggles and realities of Indian society through his pen,' and that his works remain 'an inexhaustible source of inspiration for human values and nation-building.'
The man who rewrote what Hindi literature could say
Munshi Premchand, born Dhanpat Rai Shrivastava on July 31, 1880, in the village of Lamhi near Varanasi in what is now Uttar Pradesh, spent his life writing about the India that polite society preferred not to see. His landmark novels — Godan (The Gift of a Cow) and Gaban (Embezzlement) — placed the rural poor and the striving middle class at the centre of serious literature, a radical act in colonial India. He died in 1936, leaving behind a body of work — novels, short stories, essays — that remains a cornerstone of the Hindi and Urdu literary canon.Why UP's Chief Minister speaks first on this date
Premchand's roots in Uttar Pradesh make his birth anniversary a moment of particular resonance for the state's leadership. Political figures across the spectrum issue tributes on July 31 each year, but for a UP Chief Minister, the gesture carries added weight: Premchand was born, schooled, and shaped by the soil of this state. The literary community in Varanasi and Lucknow typically marks the day with readings, seminars, and commemorations. For CM Yogi Adityanath, framing Premchand's legacy around 'nation-building' and 'human values' is a deliberate choice of register — lifting the writer above partisan association and into the shared cultural inheritance that every Indian government invokes across the political spectrum. Premchand's pen never stopped being relevant. A century after he wrote them, his stories still sting.Point of View
Which seeks to reclaim canonical Indian figures as pillars of a unified civilisational identity. Premchand's own writing was deeply sympathetic to the rural poor and sharply critical of caste and class oppression, making him a writer claimed by multiple ideological traditions. By emphasising 'human values' over social critique, the tribute sidesteps the more uncomfortable edges of Premchand's realism. That political leaders across the spectrum do the same each July 31 underscores how thoroughly Premchand has been absorbed into India's official cultural memory — revered universally, and selectively quoted by all.
NationPress
1 Aug 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
When is Munshi Premchand's birth anniversary?
Munshi Premchand was born on July 31, 1880 , and his birth anniversary is observed on July 31 each year.
Why is Munshi Premchand called 'Upanyas Samrat'?
Premchand is called 'Upanyas Samrat' — meaning 'Emperor of Novels' — because of his prolific and pioneering contribution to Hindi and Urdu fiction, particularly his realistic portrayals of Indian rural life and social conditions.
What are Munshi Premchand's most famous works?
His most celebrated novels include Godan (The Gift of a Cow) and Gaban (Embezzlement), alongside hundreds of short stories that remain widely read in Indian schools and universities.
Where was Munshi Premchand born?
Premchand was born in the village of Lamhi , near Varanasi , in present-day Uttar Pradesh , on July 31, 1880.
What did CM Yogi Adityanath say about Munshi Premchand?
CM Yogi Adityanath said Premchand 'gave powerful expression to the sensibilities, struggles and realities of Indian society through his pen,' and called his works 'an inexhaustible source of inspiration for human values and nation-building.'
