Introduction to the concept of Antyodaya of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay

Dear Friend,
The BJP is currently conducting a " Vistarak Yojana" - introduction / spread of the party's ideology to the people.
Through personal contact, door to door campaign, letters, mails and meetings, party leaders, office bearers and karyakartas are contacting people on occasion of the party ideologue Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay ji's  birth centenary celebrations.
This letter is a part of that endeavor.

Introduction:

Pandit Deendayalji  Upadhyay was the leader of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh from 1953 to 1968. 
A profound philosopher, organiser par excellence and a leader who maintained the highest standards of personal integrity, he has been the source of ideological guidance and moral inspiration for the BJP since its inception. 
His treatise Integral Humanism, which is a critique of both communism and capitalism, provides a holistic alternative perspective for political action and statecraft consistent with the laws of Creation and the universal needs of the human race.

•Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay proposed Antyodaya (Integral Humanism) Philosophy.
•Antyodaya means uplifting the last person.
•Antyodaya is the basic principle of the Political and Economical philosophy of Deendayal Upadhyay.
•It means to ensure that the last person in the ladder or the chain gets the benefits of growth & development.

Literally, ‘Antyodaya’ means the “rise of the last person” and it was one of the concepts emphasised by Deendayalji, who was also one of the founding leaders of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh — the forerunner of the BJP.  
“The measurement of economic plans and economic growth cannot be done with those who have risen above on the economic ladder but of those who are at the bottom,” Upadhyay is quoted as saying on BJP’s official website.

Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay stressed on ‘Antyodaya’ to rid the nation of extreme poverty. It also formed a part of his core philosophy of “Integral Humanism”– that viewed the man distinctly from the popular ones propagated in his time by capitalism and communism.
"Both these systems, capitalist as well as Communist, have failed to take account of the Integral Man, his true and complete personality and his aspirations…We want neither capitalism nor socialism. We aim at the progress and happiness of “Man”, the Integral Man. The protagonists of the two systems fight with ‘Man’ on the state. Both of them do not understand man, nor do they care for his interests,” Deendayalji had said in a speech in 1965.
Regarding poverty, Deendayalji was of the view that the state should assure a minimum standard of living to all individuals. “An assurance of minimum standard of living to every individual and preparedness for the defence of the nation.”

In the last three years, since 2014,  ‘Antyodaya’ has been one of the guiding principles of the BJP government at the Centre and states.
This is a brief introduction to the concept of Antyodaya.

Regards,

Dayanand Nene
Bharatiya Janata Party.