In balancing act, Nitish takes jibe at PM Modi over Karpoori Bharat Ratna, slams dynasty politics

Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal (United) president Nitish Kumar on Wednesday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his government’s decision to confer the Bharat Ratna on socialist icon and former chief minister Karpoori Thakur.

At the same time, Nitish, however, also took a swipe at the Modi-led BJP government, saying that finally they (BJP) have also realised the importance of Karpoori Thakur.

Addressing a public meeting in Patna — organised by the JD(U) to commemorate the birth centenary of Karpoori — Nitish said: “PM called up Ramnath Thakur (Karpoori’s elder son and JD(U)’s Rajya Sabha MP) to share the news (about Karpoori being awarded the Bharat Ratna). I got the news through Ramnath ji. The PM did not call me. But I want to thank PM through press. Don’t say that he had given Bharat Ratna to Karpoori Thakur because of sustained demands from us. Let him take full credit.”

The CM then said: “They (BJP) have finally realised that they cannot do without Karpoori Thakur. Unki ijjat karenge to unko bhi kuchh mil jayega (if they respect him, they, too will get something. As for me, I have been making the demand for Bharat Ratna for Karpoori Thakur since 2007 from whichever government came to power at the Centre. Finally, this government gave him the honour. We are very happy that our long-pending demand has been fulfilled.”

Pressing for separate reservations for the Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) at the national level on the basis of the Karpoori model, Nitish said: “Jan Nayak (Karpoori) had pioneered separate quotas for EBC and OBC by giving them 12% and 8% reservation respectively. Let there be the same model in the country.”

Highlighting Karpoori’s opposition to dynastic