Khattar pays tribute to former BJP president K. Jana Krishnamurti
Synopsis
Union Power Minister Manohar Lal Khattar paid tribute to K. Jana Krishnamurti, former BJP national president and Union Minister, on his death anniversary, citing his role in the party's journey from the Bharatiya Jana Sangh to the BJP.
Key Takeaways
Manohar Lal Khattar , Union Power Minister and former Haryana CM, posted the tribute on 25 September 2026 .
Jana Krishnamurti served as BJP national president between 2001 and 2002 and as a Union Minister.
Krishnamurti's career spanned the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (founded 1951) through to the BJP (formed 1980).
Khattar described Krishnamurti's contribution as 'incomparable' and called him a 'guiding light' for party workers.
BJP leaders routinely observe such anniversaries as part of the party's institutional memory-keeping.
On the death anniversary of one of the Bharatiya Janata Party's most formative figures, Union Power Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Friday, 25 September 2026, offered a heartfelt tribute to K. Jana Krishnamurti — former national president of the BJP and former Union Minister — calling his life's work an enduring source of inspiration for party workers.
Posting in Hindi on X, Khattar wrote: 'राष्ट्र एवं समाज के उत्थान हेतु जीवन का प्रत्येक क्षण समर्पित कर देने वाले...' — 'I offer my humble tribute to the revered K. Jana Krishnamurti ji, who dedicated every moment of his life to the upliftment of the nation and society.' He added that Krishnamurti's 'incomparable contribution' to the journey from the Bharatiya Jana Sangh to the BJP remains a guiding light for 'countless workers like me.'
From Jana Sangh roots to BJP's national presidency
K. Jana Krishnamurti was among the senior leaders who witnessed — and shaped — one of Indian politics' most consequential organisational transitions. The Bharatiya Jana Sangh, founded in 1951, merged into the Janata Party in 1977 before its ideological inheritors regrouped to form the Bharatiya Janata Party in 1980. Krishnamurti rose through this arc to serve as the BJP's national president between 2001 and 2002, and also held charge as a Union Minister — a career that spanned the party's foundational decades.
For Khattar, a career RSS-BJP worker who served as Chief Minister of Haryana before his elevation to the Union Cabinet, such figures represent the organisational spine that made the party's later electoral dominance possible. The tribute is personal as much as ceremonial.
A party's memory, kept alive on social media
BJP leaders regularly mark the death anniversaries of former presidents and senior figures with public statements — a deliberate act of institutional memory that reinforces the party's continuous lineage from the Jana Sangh era. These posts speak to the party's rank and file as much as to the public: they remind grassroots workers that the organisation's present standing was built on decades of unglamorous groundwork by leaders now largely outside public memory.
Krishnamurti's anniversary falls into this category — significant within the BJP's own history, even if little noted beyond it. That a sitting Union Minister pauses to name him publicly keeps that history from fading entirely.
Point of View
Senior leaders signal to the party's cadre that ideological continuity — not just electoral success — defines BJP identity. For Khattar personally, it reinforces his standing as a lifelong pracharak-turned-minister who shares that foundational ethos. Such acts of institutional memory also quietly distinguish the BJP's self-image from that of parties it frames as dynastic or rootless.
NationPress
25 Sept 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was K. Jana Krishnamurti?
K. Jana Krishnamurti was a senior BJP leader who served as the party's national president between 2001 and 2002 and as a Union Minister. He was associated with the BJP's predecessor, the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, and was known for his organisational work across both parties.
Why did Manohar Lal Khattar pay tribute to Krishnamurti?
Khattar paid tribute on the occasion of Krishnamurti's death anniversary, honouring his contribution to the journey from the Bharatiya Jana Sangh to the BJP and calling him an inspiration for party workers.
What is the connection between the Jana Sangh and the BJP?
The Bharatiya Jana Sangh, founded in 1951, merged into the Janata Party in 1977. Its former members reconstituted as the Bharatiya Janata Party in 1980, making the BJP the ideological and organisational successor to the Jana Sangh.
What is Manohar Lal Khattar's current role?
Manohar Lal Khattar currently serves as Union Minister of Power and Housing and Urban Affairs in the Government of India. He is a senior BJP leader and former Chief Minister of Haryana.
Do BJP leaders regularly pay tributes to former party presidents?
Yes. BJP leaders routinely post public tributes on the death anniversaries of former national presidents and senior figures, reinforcing the party's historical continuity from the Jana Sangh era to the present.
