Patna, Jan 24 Son of former Bihar Chief Minister Karpoori Thakur and JD(U) MP Ram Nath Thakur has thanked the government for conferring Bharat Ratna posthumously on his father.
"We have been demanding the Bharat Ratna for Karpoori Thakur for the last 36 years. The Narendra Modi government has given the country’s highest honour to my father a day before his 100 birth anniversary. It is a great moment for us. I can't express my happiness and pride which I am feeling at the moment. I am thankful to PM Narendra Modi and the central government for it," Ram Nath Thakur said.
Bihar BJP also appreciated the Prime Minister for conferring Bharat Ratna posthumously to Karpoori Thakur.
BJP Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Kumar Modi said: "Karpoori Thakur comes from an extremely backward caste (EBC) community and he was the one who had given reservation to the EBC. Today, Narendra Modi has fulfilled the dream of Karpoori Thakur. He has conferred the Bharat Ratna to the 'Gudri Ke Laal'. We are thankful to PM Narendra Modi."
State BJP President Samrat Chaudhary said: "I especially thank PM Narendra Modi for conferring the Bharat Ratna to the 'Garibo Ke Mashiha'. It is a historic announcement."
Karpoori Thakur was born in Pitaijhiya village in Samastipur district of the state on January 24, 1924, and he belonged to the Nai (barber) community.
He died at the age of 74 on February 17, 1988.
Karpoori Thakur was a freedom fighter and had spent 26 months in jail during the Quit India movement.
He was the Chief Minister of Bihar for two terms -- from December 1970 to June 1971 and June 1977 to April 1979.
He had given 12 per cent reservation to extremely backward caste communities and 8 per cent to other backward caste communities apart from reservation to upper caste on the basis of financial status in 1978.
Political pundits in Bihar see this move of the Modi government as a "masterstroke". They say it would help the BJP to intrude into the vote bank of Lalu Prasad Yadav and Nitish Kumar. Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar are considered political students of Karpoori Thakur.
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