Jan Nayak Karpoori Thakur
– Photo: Amar Ujala
Expansion
The Central Government has announced to honor former Bihar Chief Minister Karpoori Thakur with Bharat Ratna (posthumously). This announcement has been made just before his birth anniversary on 24th January. He was known for advocating the interests of backward classes. Karpuri Thakur had strict control over his speech, he was also a skilled craftsman of language. His speech was pomp-free, vigorous, encouraging and thought-provoking. To speak the bitterest truth, he used such words and sentences which would leave the opposition stunned. But he was not able to allege that Karpoori Thakur had insulted him.
Karpoori Thakur had a sensitive personality
It is said that Karpoori Thakur’s voice was very sonorous and challenging. But to the same extent, it was also full of truth, restraint and compassion. Whenever anyone tried to mislead former Chief Minister Thakur, he used to get angry and his face would turn red with anger. On such occasions he could speak very little, but his eyes would say the rest. Yet, even in the most adverse circumstances, he never violated the Lakshman Rekha of etiquette and decorum.
Come forward to remove factionalism and evils in politics
With independence, Congress came to power. At that time Congress was controlled by the upper castes in Bihar. These upper castes started fighting among themselves to remain in power. Instead of the party, vote banks started being formed in the name of these castes. After the first general elections of 1952, a small number of backward castes within the Congress also formed a separate group, which was named ‘Triveni Sangh’. After some time, Triveni Sangh also went on the same path.
In this way, bad results soon started emerging. Numbers, muscle power and money power started controlling politics and society. The form of political parties started changing accordingly. Loyal workers started falling face down. In such a situation, Karpoori Thakur not only faced the situation boldly, but also exposed these tendencies in a strong manner. At that time many other types of evils had arisen in the Congress Party across the country. Therefore, to remove him from power, the slogan of non-Congressism was given in the general elections of 1967 under the leadership of Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia.
This step was taken to demand reservation in jobs
After the defeat of Congress, for the first time a non-Congress government was formed in Bihar. Participation of common people and backward people increased in power. Karpuri became the Deputy Chief Minister in that government. His stature rose further when he became the Chief Minister of Bihar after the victory of the Janata Party in 1977.
In fact, for the first time in the 1977 elections, the backward classes had gained a decisive lead in political power. But he did not have control over the administrative system. Therefore, the demand for reservation in government jobs started being raised loudly. Karpoori Thakur, in his capacity as Chief Minister, considered the above demand as constitutional and determined a formula and after much discussion, implemented it. This was opposed by the opposition and the opposition. Different groups also accused each other of being casteist. But Karpoori Thakur’s personality remained intact. His stature became even higher. In this way, due to his policy and intentions, he became a leader of the entire society i.e. a public hero.