Yogi to attend DDU University Platinum Jubilee celebrations

Gorakhpur: Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gorakhpur University, established in 1950 as Uttar Pradesh's first state university post-Independence, will celebrate its Platinum Jubilee on Apr 30. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will attend the event as chief guest. For him, the occasion holds personal significance—his spiritual predecessor, Mahant Digvijaynath, played pivotal role in founding the university .

Mahant Digvijaynath, then head of the Goraksha Peeth, founded the Maharana Pratap Education Council in 1932. Long before the university plan took shape, he had already established two degree colleges under MPEC. When the govt sought assets worth Rs 50 lakh to approve the university, Digvijaynath donated both colleges—valued at Rs 42 lakh. Pradeep Kumar Rao of Maharana Pratap College noted that 11 of the original 18 members of the university's founding committee were from MPEC, underlining its foundational role.

On Wednesday, Yogi will also lay foundation stone for a 1,500-seat auditorium named after Mahant Digvijaynath—a tribute to the visionary who helped turn Gorakhpur into a higher education hub. tnn