'Know Karpoori Thakur's struggle to claim his ideology'

BJP leader RK Sinha said that political leaders, who are claiming that they follow Karpoori Thakur's ideology, must know about his struggle and the difficulties he faced to become the Chief Minister of Bihar.

New Delhi: Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) Rajya Sabha member RK Sinha on Sunday said that leaders across the political spectrum must know about the history and struggle of Karpoori Thakur which made him the Chief Minister. Thakur, an OBC stalwart, was the first non-Congress socialist Chief Minister of Bihar in 1970.

Sinha asked, "Today India is celebrating 97th birth anniversary of Karpoori Thakur and paying tributes to him. Political leaders are claiming that they are following his ideologies. But they should know his history and how did he become the Chief Minister of the state. What were the struggles made by Thakur during the emergency period? How did he reach Nepal? Who all helped him with his struggle? Political parties of today were not present during that time and they must have knowledge about this."

He added, "A college has been built under Karpoori Thakur's name in his native village. I have contributed some money for its construction. People should follow Thakur's principles and moral values and then try to do something."

Thakur, a freedom fighter and political expert, served as the deputy CM and Chief Minister of Bihar. He always worked for the welfare of the backward and downtrodden and made 27 per cent reservations for them.

Cutting across party lines, political leaders of Bihar on Thursday paid tributes to former state Chief Minister Karpoori Thakur, an OBC stalwart and champion of social justice, on the occasion of his birth anniversary.

CM Nitish Kumar and RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad paid rich tributes to Thakur and also tweeted about the same.