Karpoori Thakur was an Indian politician who served twice as the 11th Chief Minister of Bihar, initially from December 1970 to June 1971, and later from June 1977 to April 1979. He was commonly referred to as Jan Nayak.
Karpoori Thakur Previous Office
Thakur was a minister and deputy chief minister of Bihar prior to being the first non-Congress socialist chief minister of Bihar in 1970. He also implemented complete prohibition of alcohol in Bihar. His rule saw the establishment of numerous schools and colleges in his name in the backward regions of Bihar.
Karpoori Thakur Birthplace
Karpoori Thakur is from Pitaunjhia, a small village in Samastipur, Bihar. Coming from a humble background, he gained prominence owing to his commitment to social justice and politics. His father belonged to the ‘Nai’ (barber) group in Bihar.
Karpoori Thakur Wife
Kapoori Thakur wife is Phooleshwari Devi.
Karpoori Thakur Death Reason
Karpoori Thakur died on February 17, 1988, from a heart attack. He was 64 years old at the time and had high blood pressure. At his death, controversy surrounded the cause, with allegations that rock salt water had been administered to him by someone under the practice of ‘Sankhya Yogkriya.’
Karpoori Thakur Education
Karpuri Thakur’s highest educational qualification is Bachelor of Arts (BA) dropout. This means that although he began a BA degree, he did not finish the course and dropped out of the program prior to graduation.
Karpoori Thakur Son
Karpoori Thakur had two sons. His older son is Ram Nath Thakur, a politician and Member of Parliament (MP) in the Rajya Sabha (the Indian upper house parliament) from the Janata Dal (United) party (JDU). His younger son is Birendra (also spelled Virendra) Kumar Thakur, who is a doctor.
Karpoori Thakur Bharat Ratan
On 26 January 2024, he was posthumously conferred India’s top civilian award, the Bharat Ratna, by the Government of India. This was declared by the President of India, Draupadi Murmu, on 23 January 2024.
Karpoori Thakur Caste
Karpoori Thakur belongs to the Hindu religion and belongs to the “Nai” community.
Karpoori Thakur UPSC
The “Karpoori Thakur Formula” was a 26% reservation model that he initiated in Bihar in 1978 for government employment, which was a prelude to the Mandal Commission. It had the following distribution: 12% to Other Backward Classes (OBCs), 8% to economically backward classes of OBCs, 3% to women, and 3% to economically backward classes of upper castes. This tiered policy of reservation was meant to accord social justice and made a big splash in the national reservation debate.
Karpoori Thakur Books
Among his previous books are Ruled Or Misruled: The Story and Destiny of Bihar (Bloomsbury, 2015), JP TO BJP (Vitasta Sage Select, 2021), and Kitna Raaj Kitna Kaaj (Vani Prakashan, 2023).
Karpoori Thakur Sadan Patna
The contact address for Karpoori Thakur Sadan in Patna is on the Ashiana-Digha Road in the Combined Building. This is also referred to as the Kendriya Karmachari Parisar, and the pin code is 800025.
Karpoori Thakur Images
Karpoori Thakur controversy
Karpoori Thakur was in the middle of a major controversy over charges of rape brought by a 35-year-old Kathmandu schoolteacher named Premlata Rai. The charge emerged in January 1978 when Thakur was running for the Bihar Legislative Assembly by-election from the Phulparas constituency.
Rai accused Thakur of raping her in 1975 when he was residing in Nepal during the Emergency years. She claimed that Thakur, who had returned home inebriated from a wedding, had raped her while she slept at the residence of Professor S.N. Verma in Kathmandu on the evening of July 20, 1975.
Rai also alleged that she subsequently sold her ornaments and pledged her house for Rs 16,000 in order to help Thakur, but he did not accept her even after becoming the Chief Minister of Bihar, although they finally met on October 19, 1978, at Patna.
Thakur denied any wrongdoing, attributing it to a political conspiracy, and the case Rai brought against him was later dismissed in court, as the judges said the charges seemed to be a political conspiracy aimed at defaming his public image.
PM Modi Visited Karpoori Thakur Village in Bihar
The inclusion of Karpoori Gram in the itinerary of the Prime Minister is seen as a calculated step by the NDA in an effort to win the hearts of the Extremely Backward Castes (EBCs), the caste group to which the late party leader Karpoori Thakur belonged.
The Prime Minister’s visit to Bihar formally begins the campaign for the BJP-led NDA for the coming Assembly polls in the state. During the visit, the Prime Minister will pay homage to Thakur, a much-respected two-time Chief Minister who is universally hailed as an ardent fighter of the backward classes.
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