The nation is celebrating the 100th birth anniversary of the late socialist leader and former CM of Bihar Karpoori Thakur who is also known as Jan Nayak or people's leader. This anniversary holds particular significance as the Modi government announced to confer the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian honour, upon Karpoori Thakur. Since 2019, no political leader has been given this honour and the sudden bestowing of the honour to a leader from an opposition party has surprised many including the I.N.D.I.A coalition.
Reacting to the decision, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar praised the Modi government and launched a scathing attack on the dynastic politics of Lalu Yadav's family without explicitly naming them. He said that Karpoori Thakur never promoted his family in politics but unfortunately, there are many people who continue to promote their own family in politics.
The JD(U) president added that without acknowledging his efforts, the Prime Minister could take credit for conferring the Bharat Ratna on Karpoori Thakur. He emphasized, "Bihar's caste census was inspired by Karpoori Thakur's advocacy for social justice, and it should be implemented nationwide. He provided reservations to the backward and extremely backward classes in 1978, a groundbreaking move in Indian history. Now, we demand an increase in reservation for backward and extremely backward classes throughout the country. The extremely backward class is extremely impoverished, and their numbers are substantial."
By indirectly attacking Congress and RJD over dynasty politics and praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the move, Nitish Kumar has left the opposition alliance on a tenterhooks. The fissures among the opposition alliance are clearly visible with the Aam Aadmi Party announcing to contest the polls in Punjab all alone and the TMC taking a similar line in West Bengal. Former Bihar CM Jitan Ram Manjhi has already claimed that anything can happen in Bihar after January 25. Now, if Nitish Kumar takes another U-turn and joins the NDA alliance, then it would be another setback not only for Congress but also for the RJD as they may find it difficult to beat the Nitish-Modi juggernaut in the Lok Sabha polls.
