They also flagged off a goods train with an all-women crew and a passenger train. Railway official said, this was the first time an all-women crew ran a goods train.
Last year, the central government had cleared UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's request to rename the station, in a bid to revive the legacy of Upadhyaya, who was found dead in 1968 in the junction itself. After the approval of the state cabinet, the proposal was forwarded to the Railway Ministry.
Deendayal Upadhyaya wanted to base India's independence on its culture. He was, therefore, not prepared to accept any widely-accepted notion in this regard blindly. A western concept of the nation, western secularism, western democracy and various other western issues came up for comment; Deendayal was for Indianising all these concepts.
Upadhyaya believed that while the immediate policies in a democracy may be governed by majority opinion, Democracy is not always able to give expression to the views of the majority. This leads to infighting in the party and unrest in society. A democracy must, therefore, rule according to popular opinion, not only majority or minority opinion. The public cannot express its opinion formally.
Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya was active in India's political life from 1937 to 1968. He came into contact with the RSS in 1937 and discharged his responsibilities as a volunteer for five years. In 1942, he became a life volunteer and till 1951, he was active in Uttar Pradesh as a committed RSS worker. He exhibited his potential for organizational and literary capabilities during these nine years. For 16 years (1951 to 1967), he was General Secretary of the Bharatiya Jan Sangh.
Deendayal emerged as an allround national leader but when this seasoned leader emerged as President of his party, destiny took him away from us in a mysterious and gory end. He was the Jan Sangh President for only 43 days from December 29, 1967 to February 10, 1968. Around 3.45 a.m. on Feb. 11, 1968, the leverman at the Mughalsarai station informed the Assistant Station Master that about 150 yards from the station, towards the south of the railway line, a dead body was lying near the electric pole No.1276. The police was alerted and the Assistant Station Master sent a memo to the police on which was written: "Almost dead." The doctor examined the body in the morning and declared it dead. When the dead body was brought to the station, a curious crowd gathered there. Till now, the dead body was unclaimed. Then one person in the crowd shouted, "This is the Bharatiya Jan Sangh President, Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya!” The news spread like wildfire and the nation was plunged in grief.
It was then sent to Raj Bhavan for the Governor’s assent, which was given yesterday. Mughalsarai is also the birthplace of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri.
The notification said the station’s name has been changed to ‘Pt Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction’ with immediate effect. The Centre gave its in-principal approval for renaming the station, among the busiest in the country, last year. The move drew flak from opposition parties which accused the ruling party of attempting to tamper with history.
The junction, the fourth busiest railway station in the country, is located on the main Howrah-Delhi Grand Chord line. The station contains the largest railway marshaling yard in Asia. It is 12.5 km long and handles around 1,500 wagons daily. The largest wagon repair workshop of the Indian Railways is also located here.