New Delhi : Former Bihar Chief Minister and socialist leader Karpoori Thakur will be given the country’s highest civilian award Bharat Ratna posthumously, President’s Secretariat said in a press release on Tuesday.
The announcement has been made a day ahead of the veteran leader’s 100th birth anniversary.
Karpoori Thakur was born in Samastipur district of Bihar and was popularly known as Jan Nayak (the people’s leader).
Thakur served as a minister and as Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, before becoming the Chief Minister of Bihar from December 12, 1970 to June 2, 1971 and from June 24, 1977 to April 21, 1979.
In the early days after Independence, Thakur served as a teacher in the Middle School of his village. He became a member of the Bihar Vidhan Sabha in 1952.
The veteran socialist leader was a strong advocate of socialist ideology. He worked for Praja Socialist Party and Joint Socialist Party.
