New Delhi: JD(U) MP and Karpoori Thakur's son Ram Nath Thakur wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, thanking him for the Bharat Ratna honour bestowed on his father and former Bihar chief minister Karpoori Thakur.
"The country's extremely backward classes -- especially the people of Bihar -- will always be grateful to the government. Karpoori Thakur fought all his life for the rights and respect of the poor, Dalits, backward sections and the deprived," he wrote to PM Modi.
Ram Nath Thakur expressed his gratitude for bestowing the country's highest civilian honour on the former Bihar chief minister in his birth centenary year. The award was long-awaited and the government announced it in the first month of the year, the Rajya Sabha member noted.
Karpoori'S Son also wrote, "Socialists and followers of Mahatma Gandhi, Jayaprakash Narayan and Ram Manohar Lohia draw inspiration from Karpoori Thakur's life". He added that the "government's decision has ensured that he (Karpoori Thakur) will be remembered as a Bharat Ratna."
Karpoori Thakur, the first non-Congress Chief Minister of Bihar, served in the state's top administerial post from December 1970 to June 1971 and later from June 1977 to April 1979. Karpoori Thakur, who served as Bihar's Chief Minister in the 1970s, played a pivotal role in the implementation of quotas for backward classes in the state.
Karpoori Thakur, often referred to as the "Jan Nayak" or the people's hero of Bihar politics, was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian honour.