‘Dedicated entire life to social justice’: PM Modi remembers Bharat Ratna Karpoori Thakur

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute to Bharat Ratna and former Bihar Chief Minister Karpoori Thakur on his birth anniversary on Friday. Remembering Karpoori Thakur as leader of the masses, PM Modi said that he dedicated his entire life to social justice.

“Respectful tributes to former Bihar Chief Minister Bharat Ratna Karpoori Thakur ji on his birth anniversary. The leader of the masses dedicated his entire life to social justice and made many efforts in this direction. His life and ideals will continue to inspire every generation of the country”, PM Modi wrote on X.

बिहार के पूर्व मुख्यमंत्री भारत रत्न कर्पूरी ठाकुर जी को उनकी जन्म-जयंती पर आदरपूर्ण श्रद्धांजलि। जननायक ने अपना संपूर्ण जीवन सामाजिक न्याय के लिए समर्पित कर दिया और इस दिशा में अनेक प्रयास किए। उनका जीवन और आदर्श देश की हर पीढ़ी को प्रेरित करता रहेगा।

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 24, 2025

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar remembered Karpoori Thakur and wrote on X, “Respectful tributes to the people’s leader Karpoori Thakur ji on the occasion of his birth anniversary.”

जननायक कर्पूरी ठाकुर जी की जयंती के अवसर पर उन्हें सादर नमन।

— Nitish Kumar (@NitishKumar) January 24, 2025

Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath also paid tribute to Thakur and said that his ideals and struggle will always inspire us to follow the path of justice, equality and service. “Humble tribute to the great freedom fighter, pioneer of social justice and former Chief Minister of Bihar, ‘Bharat Ratna’ Karpoori Thakur on his birth anniversary! Your ideals and struggle will always inspire us to follow the path of justice, equality and service,” CM Yogi wrote on X.

महान स्वतंत्रता संग्राम सेनानी, सामाजिक न्याय के पुरोधा और बिहार के पूर्व मुख्यमंत्री, ‘भारत रत्न’ कर्पूरी ठाकुर की जयंती पर उन्हें विनम्र श्रद्धांजलि!

आपके आदर्श एवं संघर्ष हमें सदैव न्याय, समानता और सेवा के पथ पर चलने की प्रेरणा देते रहेंगे। pic.twitter.com/p6bCsuoga7

— Yogi Adityanath (@myogiadityanath) January 24, 2025

Karpoori Thakur, born in 1924 at Pitaunjhia (now Karpoori Gram) in Darbhanga, Bihar, was a freedom fighter and former CM of Bihar. He was awarded Bharat Ratna posthumously in 2024. He was popularly called ‘Jannayak’ for his work for the cause of people. He became a member of the Bihar Vidhan Sabha in 1952.

Karpoori Thakur was a strong advocate of socialist ideology and worked tirelessly for the Praja Socialist Party and the Joint Socialist Party. Thakur served as a minister and as Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, before serving two terms as CM of Bihar — from 1970 to 1971 and 1977 to 1979. He died on February 1988 in Patna. (ANI)