Karpoori Thakur | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader of the opposition Bihar Legislative Assembly | |
| In office 30 June 1980 – 12 February 1988 | |
| Chief Minister | Jagannath Mishra Chandrashekhar Singh Bindeshwari Dubey |
| Preceded by | Jagannath Mishra |
| Succeeded by | Lalu Prasad Yadav |
| 11th Chief Minister of Bihar | |
| In office 24 June 1977 – 21 April 1979 | |
| Preceded by | Jagannath Mishra |
| Succeeded by | Ram Sunder Das |
| In office 22 December 1970 – 2 June 1971 | |
| Preceded by | Daroga Prasad Rai |
| Succeeded by | Bhola Paswan Shashtri |
| 2ndDeputy Chief Minister of Bihar | |
| In office 5 March 1967 – 31 January 1968 | |
| Chief Minister | Mahamaya Prasad Sinha |
| Preceded by | Anugrah Narayan Sinha |
| Succeeded by | Sushil Kumar Modi |
| Minister of Education Government of Bihar | |
| In office 5 March 1967 – 31 January 1968 | |
| Chief Minister | Mahamaya Prasad Sinha |
| Preceded by | Satyendra Narayan Sinha |
| Succeeded by | Satish Prasad Singh |
| Member ofBihar Legislative Assembly | |
| In office 1985–1988 | |
| Preceded by | Anwarul Haque |
| Succeeded by | Ram Jiwan Prasad |
| Constituency | Sonbarsa |
| In office 1980–1985 | |
| Preceded by | Chandra Shekhar Singh |
| Succeeded by | Ashok Singh |
| Constituency | Samastipur |
| In office 1977–1980 | |
| Preceded by | Devendra Prasad Yadav |
| Succeeded by | Surendra Yadav |
| Constituency | Phulparas |
| In office 1952–1977 | |
| Preceded by | Constituency created |
| Succeeded by | Constituency defunct |
| Constituency | Tajpur |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1924-01-24)24 January 1924 |
| Died | 17 February 1988(1988-02-17) (aged 64) |
| Political party | Socialist Party,Bharatiya Kranti Dal,Janata Party,Lok Dal |
| Spouse | Phuleshwari devi |
| Children | Ram Nath Thakur (son) |
| Occupation | Freedom fighter, teacher, politician |
| Awards |  Bharat Ratna (2024) |
Karpoori Thakur (24 January 1924 – 17 February 1988) was anIndianpolitician who twice served as the11th Chief Minister of Bihar, first from December 1970 to June 1971, and then from June 1977 to April 1979. He was popularly known asJan Nayak (transl. people's leader). On 26 January 2024, he was posthumously awarded India's highest civilian honour, theBharat Ratna, by theGovernment of India. This was announced by thePresident of IndiaDraupadi Murmu on 23 January 2024.[1][2][3]
Karpoori Thakur was born to Gokul Thakur and Ramdulari Devi at Pitaunjhia (now Karpuri Gram)village inSamastipur District ofBihar.[4] He belonged to theNai community.[5][6] He was influenced byMahatma Gandhi andSatyanarayan Sinha.[7][8] He joined theAll India Students Federation.[9] As a student activist, he left his graduate college to join theQuit India Movement. For his participation in theIndian independence movement, he spent 26 months in prison.[10]
After India gained independence, Thakur worked as a teacher in his village's school. He became a member of the BiharVidhan Sabha in 1952 from Tajpur constituency as aSocialist Party candidate. He was arrested for leading Post and Telegraph employees during the general strike of theCentral Government employees in 1960. In 1970, he undertook afast unto death for 28 days to promote the cause ofTelco labourers.[10]
Thakur was a votary ofHindi language, and as the education minister of Bihar, he removed English as the compulsory subject for thematriculation curriculum. It is alleged that the Bihar's students suffered due to the resulting low standards of English-medium education in the state.[10] Thakur served as a minister andDeputy Chief Minister of Bihar, before becoming the first non-Congress socialist Chief Minister of Bihar in 1970. He also enforced totalprohibition of alcohol in Bihar. During his reign, many schools and colleges were established in his name[10] in the backward areas of Bihar.
Academic S.N. Malakar, who belongs to one of the Most Backward Classes (MBCs)of Bihar and had participated in the agitation supporting Karpoori Thakur’s reservation policy in the 1970s as a student activist belonging to theAll India Students Federation (AISF) contends that the subaltern classes of Bihar – MBCs, dalits and upper OBCs had already gained confidence during the time of the Janata Party government.[11]
Chet Ram Tomar of Bulandshahr was his close ally. A socialist leader, Thakur was close toJaya Prakash Narayan.[12] Duringthe emergency in India (1975–77), he and other prominent leaders of Janata Party led the "Total Revolution" movement aimed at non-violent transformation of Indian society.[13]
In the1977 Bihar Legislative Assembly election, the ruling Indian National Congress suffered a heavy defeat at the hands ofJanata Party. Janata Party was a recent amalgam of disparate groups includingIndian National Congress (Organisation),Charan Singh'sBharatiya Lok Dal (BLD), Socialists and Hindu Nationalists of Jana Sangh. The sole purpose of these groups joining together was to defeat Prime MinisterIndira Gandhi, who had imposed a nationwideemergency and curtailed many freedoms. There were also social cleavages with Socialists and BLD representing backward castes and Congress(O) and Jana Sangh the upper castes.[14][15]
After theJanata Party came to power, Thakur became Chief Minister of Bihar for the second time by winning the legislative party election against Bihar Janata Party PresidentSatyendra Narayan Sinha, formerly of Congress [O], by a vote of 144 to 84.[16] Infighting in the party broke over the question of Thakur's decision to implement the Mungeri Lal Commission report, that recommended the institution of reservations for Backward Castes in government jobs. Upper caste members of theJanata Party tried to water down the reservation policy by unseating Thakur as Chief Minister. To wean away Dalit MLAs,Ram Sundar Das, a Dalit himself, was nominated as the candidate. Though both Das and Thakur were socialists, Das was considered more moderate and accommodating than the Chief Minister. Thakur resigned and Das became the Chief Minister of Bihar on 21 April 1979. The reservation law was weakened by allowing upper castes to obtain a greater percentage of government jobs. The internal tensions in theJanata Party caused it to split into multiple factions which led to Congress to return to power in 1980.[15][17] However, he could not last his full term because he lost the leadership battle in 1979 from Ram Sundar Das whom his adversaries placed against him and was replaced as chief minister.[18]
WhenJanata Party split in July 1979, Karpoori Thakur sided with the outgoing Charan Singh faction. He was elected fromSamastipur (Vidhan Sabha constituency) to Bihar Vidhan Sabha asJanata Party (Secular) candidate in 1980 elections. His party changed its name to Bharatiya Lok Dal later, and Thakur was elected to Bihar Vidhan Sabha as its candidate in 1985 election from Sonbarsa constituency.[19] He died before this Vidhan Sabha could complete its term.
Thakur was known as the champion of the poor.[20] In 1978, Karpoori Thakur introduced 26%reservation model in Bihar, for the backward classes in the government jobs. In this layered reservation regime,Other Backward Class got 12%, Most Backward Class got 8%, women got 3%, and economically backward classes (EBWs) from among the upper castes got 3% reservation in state government jobs.[21][22] In 1977,Devendra Prasad Yadav resigned from the Bihar Vidhan Sabha and paved the way for Thakur to contest thePhulparas Vidhan Sabha constituency by-election. Thakur won by the margin of 65000 votes, defeating Ram Jaipal Singh Yadav ofINC.[23]
Thakur served as the President ofSamyukta Socialist Party. He is called a mentor to the prominent Bihari leaders such asLalu Prasad Yadav,Ram Vilas Paswan,Devendra Prasad Yadav andNitish Kumar.[24]
Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award.
Karpoori Thakur, a Gandhian leader from an extremely backward caste of a barber or nai community from Samastipur
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