New Delhi: Former Chief Minister of Bihar Karpoori Thakur was conferred the nation's highest honour, Bharat Ratna, posthumously by the President of India Droupadi Murmu this evening. The award comes 35 years after his death -- Karpoori Thakur died on February 17, 1988.
"I am delighted that the Government of India has decided to confer the Bharat Ratna on the beacon of social justice, the great Jan Nayak Karpoori Thakur Ji and that too at a time when we are marking his birth centenary. This prestigious recognition is a testament to his enduring efforts as a champion for the marginalized and a stalwart of equality and empowerment," tweeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Dubbed "Jan Nayak" by many in the state, Karpoori Thakur served as the Chief Minister of Bihar for a short while -- from December 1970 to June 1971 and from December 1977 to April 1979.
The Centre's recognition for the state's first non-Congress Chief Minister meets a long-standing demand of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his Janata Dal United.
Today, the Chief Minister said, this "highest honor to late Karpoori Thakur ji on his 100th birth anniversary will create positive sentiments among the Dalits, deprived and neglected sections".
Coming ahead of the general election, it is seen as the BJP's masterstroke in a state that has 40 parliamentary seats. Karpoori Thakur being a member of Other Backward Castes, many see it as part of the BJP's attempt to gain allegiance of this section which has so far been loyal to Nitish Kumar.
Sources said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was well aware that after the state government's caste survey in Bihar and the subsequent increase in quota for the Economically Backward Classes, the Other Backward Classes and the Dalits in jobs and educational institutions in Bihar, the ruling alliance led by Nitish Kumar was enjoying a clear edge.
"The government which was forced to give Bharat Ratna posthumously to late Karpoori Thakur, the pioneer of social justice of the entire region, understood the rise of Bahujan concerns. Congratulations to respected @laluprasadrjd ji @NitishKumar ji @yadavtejashwi ji. First the caste census and then increasing the scope of reservation scared them,"read a rough translation of a tweet by RJD MP Manoj Jha.
A BJP ally for decades, Mr Kumar had broken away from the NDA ahead of the 2014 general elections but returned to the fold in 2017. Less than two years ago, he walked out again, forming government with a new alliance that has all parties of Bihar -- small and big -- on board.
That move had left then BJP out in the cold, with a fractured Lok Janshakti party for company. The BJP's isolation factor has cemented the spin on today's events, leaders indicate.
The Bihar BJP leaders though, have been caught unawares. Leaders confided that the party high command never gave them any hint abut this. Else they would have "vociferously made this demand", which was continuously raised by Mr Kumar's Janata Dal United and Tejashwi Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal.