Who is Bharat Ratna Awardee Karpoori Thakur?
Early Activism
Born in 1924 in a village now Karpuri Gram, Thakur joined a student activist group and later left studies to bravely join the Quit India movement, spending 26 months in jail for battling colonial rule.
Post-Independence Political Rise
Initially a teacher after 1947 independence, Thakur won a 1952 Bihar assembly seat with the Socialist Party and became legendary for fiercely advocating worker rights, and leading strikes.
Progressive Education Policies
Before becoming Bihar’s first non-Congress socialist chief minister, Thakur served as their education minister, pushing Hindi over English school instruction.
Social Reforms As Chief Minister
As chief minister, Thakur spearheaded prohibition, banning alcohol entirely. His policies also reserved 26% of state government jobs for marginalized backward classes.
Mandal Commission's Forerunner
Thakurs reforms classifying extremely disadvantaged groups to receive quotas pioneered recommendations later taken up by the Mandal Commission report mandating OBC job reservations.
Fought Emergency Regime
Thakur worked closely with Jayprakash Narayan in the Sampoorna Kranti movement during Indira Gandhi’s emergency rule to spark national transformation through non-violence.
Janata Party Split And Beyond
After the Janata Party 1979 split, Thakur supported the Charan Singh faction and won Bihar assembly seats again in 1980 and 1985 before passing away in 1988.
Influenced Caste Parties
His promotion of lower caste representation shaped regional caste-based parties that came to power representing those communities.
Home Village Memorial
His native village was renamed Karpuri Gram to honor Thakur’s working-class background and fierce advocacy for Indias oppressed.