Karpoori Thakur Birth Anniversary

Karpoori Thakur, born on 24 January 1924, was an Indian politician from the Bihar state. He was popularly known as Jan Nayak.

Thakur was a socialist leader, belonging to the barber ('nai') community, one of the most backward castes in Bihar. He went on to become Chief Minister of Bihar twice - from 1970 to 1971 with the Samyukta Socialist Party and from December 1977 to April 1979 with the Janata Party - albeit for brief stints. However, he left an indelible mark on Bihar's deprived section - a messiah of social justice - and is often credited with the rise of backward caste politics. He was at the forefront of the anti-Emergency movement along with socialist icon Jayprakash Narayan. He was known for his integrity, simple living, and advocacy of social justice.

Thakur was the first to push for the empowerment of the backward classes, which eventually set the tone for the Mandal Commission recommendations. He was the pioneer of the 'Karpoori Thakur formula', which gave 26 per cent reservation to backward communities and classes in government services in Bihar, back in 1978. This was on the recommendation of the Mungeri Lal Commission appointed by the Karpoori Thakur government, which suggested that backward classes be reclassified as extremely backward classes (including weaker sections of Muslims) and backward classes.

The commission had, in its report, identified 128 backward communities, 94 of which were deemed 'most backward'. This became the guiding principle for backward caste reservation politics for his disciples Lalu Yadav and Nitish Kumar - first in the form of the Mandal Commission and later a caste census and the layered reservations formula within it.

Karpoori Thakur, the former Chief Minister of Bihar, was chosen for the country's highest civilian award Bharat Ratna on 23 January 2024, a day ahead of his centenary birth anniversary. The announcement by the Centre was greeted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "I am delighted that the Government of India has decided to confer the Bharat Ratna on the beacon of social justice, the great Jan Nayak Karpoori Thakur Ji and that too at a time when we are marking his birth centenary," he posted on X.