The book was released by BJP president Amit Shah and Yogi Adityanath at the state party headquarters on Monday.
Schools across Uttar Pradesh are being handed booklets by the BJP to help students register and prepare for an upcoming competitive examination on topics like RSS and BJP ideologues, the Yogi Adityanath government, demonetisation and ‘Ramjanmabhoomi’. The 70-page booklet — called Samanya Gyan Pratiyogita – 2017 — contains details and questions on leaders like Veer Savarkar, Deendayal Upadhyaya, K B Hedgewar, Syama Prasad Mookerjee, Nanaji Deshmukh, and on topics like nationalism, Hindutva and major schemes launched by the Centre and state government. It was released by BJP president Amit Shah and Adityanath at the state party headquarters on Monday.
The exam, organised by the BJP, will be held on August 26 at various centres in UP to mark the birth centenary of party ideologue Deendayal Upadhyaya. It will have 100 objective questions based on the booklet, and students will have to mark their answers on OMR sheets within 90 minutes. Registration (Rs 5 each) for the examination began on Tuesday and will close on August 16.
The organising team, led by BJP state secretary Subhash Yaduvansh, is expecting over “9 lakh” students to participate. The party has engaged around 2 lakh party workers across the state to conduct the exam.
Asked about the emphasis on RSS and its leaders in the booklet, 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.”
Asked whether the booklet was promoting Hindutva ideology, he denied it. “But people should know about Hindutva because it is good lifestyle,” he added.
Yaduvansh said he has received consent from around 9,000 schools — mostly private ones — and they have conveyed that students of classes IX and X will sit for the exam.
Around 7 lakh copies of the booklet have been printed for distribution, he added. The head organiser said that results will be declared on September 5, and the top 10 rank holders in every district will be felicitated with a medal and certificate on the birth anniversary of Upadhyay on September 25.
The ‘Syllabus’
Ideologues and social reformers: After the introduction, the first few pages of the booklet contain the biography of Deendayal Upadhyay and details about his association with RSS, the Bharatiya Jan Sangh and his ideologies. It also contains brief profiles of Swami Vivekanand, Bhimrao Ambedkar, Guru Govind Singh, Birsa Munda, Rani Laxmi Bai etc.
On RSS: The outfit is referred to as the “largest social organisation in the world”, while the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) — which is associated with RSS — is touted as the largest labourers’ organisation in the country.
Social issues: Child labour, maternal and infant mortality rates, child marriage, illiteracy, sex discrimination, casteism, dowry, open defecation.
On the PM and President: It mentions that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is an MP from Varanasi and that he is among the “most powerful and popular leaders of the world”. It is also highlighted that President Ramnath Kovind belongs to Kanpur.
‘First in India’: A list under this title provides information about the first governor general, president, vice-president, Lok Sabha speaker, deputy PM, law minister, industry minister, first woman CM and woman governor, but does not mention the first prime minister.
Economic scenario: The booklet informs about the replacement of ‘Yojana Aayog’ with ‘NITI Aayog’ in 2014.
‘Make in India’, demonetisation: There are questions and answers about the ‘Make In India’ campaign of the Modi government, demonetisation and schemes introduced by the BJP-led government
‘Jan Dhan Yojana’, OROP: The booklets states that 29.5 crore bank accounts have been opened under the ‘Jan Dhan Yojana’ and that 18,452 villages will get power under the Deendayal Upadhyay Gram Jyoti Yojana. Decisions of ‘One Rank-One Pension’, bullet train service between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, GST, the Army’s surgical strike and PM’s ‘Mann ki Baat’ are also mentioned.
On Vajpayee: The booklet says Atal Bihari Vajpyee was elected to Parliament from four different states, and that he was the PM who formed government with an alliance of the maximum number of parties, and also formed the biggest Cabinet.
Yogi’s schemes: The booklet mentions initiatives and schemes launched by the Adityanath government like Anti-Romeo squads, loan waiver of farmers, renaming of airport civil terminals in Agra and Gorakhpur after Deendayal and also Rs 1 lakh financial assistance given to pilgrims of Kailash Mansarovar Yatra.
On epics and religious texts: It also has questions on the Ramayana, Mahabharat, the Bhagwad Gita, Vedas and various religious issues.
Sample questions:
* Yogi Adityanath is CM of which state?
* 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)
*“Maharaja Suheldeo ne kis Muslim akranta ko gaazar-mooli ki tarah kaaat diya tha? (Answer: Syyed Salar Masood Ghazi)
* Where is Ram Janmaboomi?
