Karpoori Thakur

infobox Prime Minister
order = ExChief Minister of Bihar
order1 = First Term
order2 = Second Term
name = Karpoori Thakur


birth_date = 24 January 1924
birth_place = Pitaunjhia, Samastipur District, Bihar, British India
death_date = 18 February 1988
death_place =
party = Socialist Party, Bharatiya Kranti Dal, Janata Party
term_start1 = December 1970
term_end1 = June 1971
term_start2 = December 1977
term_end2 = April 1979
predecessor1 = Daroga Prasad Rai
successor1 = Bhola Paswan Shashtri
predecessor2 = Jagannath Mishra
successor2 = Ram Sunder Das
office3 = Ex [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deputy_Chief_Ministers_of_Bihar Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar]
term_start3 = 1967
term_end3 = 31 January1968
predecessor3 =Satyendra Narayan Sinha
successor3 =None
office4 = Ex [http://education.nic.in/cd50years/g/12/1L/121L0101.htm Education Minister of Bihar]
term_start4 = 1967
term_end4 = 31 January1968
predecessor4 =Satyendra Narayan Sinha
successor4 =Satish Prasad Singh
occupation = Politician|

Karpoori Thakur (24 January 1924-18 February 1988) was an Indian politician from the Bihar state. He was popularly known as "Jan Nayak" (Hindi for "the people's leader"). He served as the Chief Minister of Bihar from December 1970 to June 1971 (Socialist Party/Bharatiya Kranti Dal), and from December 1977 to April 1979 (Janata Party).

Biography

Karpoori Thakur was born in Pitaunjhia (now renamed to Karpuri Gram) village of the Samastipur District of British India. As a student activist, he left his graduate college to join the Quit India Movement. For his participation in the Indian independence movement, he spent 26 months in prison.cite web
url = http://www.freeindia.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=517
title = Karpoori Thaku
publisher = FreeIndia.Org
accessdate = 2008-01-14]

After India gained independence, Thakur worked as a teacher in his village's school. He became a member of the Bihar Vidhan Sabha in 1952. He was arrested for leading P & T employees during the general strike of the Central Government employees in 1960. In 1970, he undertook a fast unto death for 28 days to promote the cause of Telco labourers.

Thakur was a votary of Hindi language, and as the education minister of Bihar, he removed English as the compulsory subject for the matriculation curriculum. Thakur served as a minister and a Deputy Chief Minister, before becoming the the first non-Congress Chief Minister of Bihar in 1970. He also enforced total prohibition of alcohol in Bihar. During his reign, many schools and colleges were established in the backward areas of Bihar.

A socialist leader, Karpoori Thakur was close to Jaya Prakash Narayan.cite web
url = http://www.ibnlive.com/news/bihar-wants-bharat-ratna-for-karpoori-thakur/56466-3.html ]
title = Bihar wants Bharat Ratna for Karpoori Thakur
publisher = CNN-IBN
date = 2008-01-14
accessdate = 2008-01-14] During the emergency in India (1975-77), he led the "Total Revolution" movement aimed at non-violent transformation of the Indian society. After the Janata Party came to power, he won the chief ministership battle from the [cite web
url = http://books.google.co.in/books?id=5xj0g8euumQC&pg=PA211&lpg=PA211&dq=satyendra+narayan+sinha&source=web&ots=ovKAGIn2cq&sig=jwBuDv1H-wa9A9rDoFlHoPJVZg8&hl=en
title =Bihar chief ministership battle 1977
author =
publisher =
work =
date =
accessdate = 2007-06-04] then Janata Party President Satyendra Narayan Sinha to become the Bihar Chief Minister for a second term in 1977. However he could not last his full term because he lost the leadership battle in 1979 from Ram Sundar Das whom his adversaries placed against him and was replaced as chief minister.

Thakur was known as the champion of the cause of the Dalits and the poor. [cite web
url = http://www.tribuneindia.com/2002/20020602/spectrum/main1.htm
title = The depth of Opulence
author = Santosh Jha
publisher = The Tribune
work = Spectrum
date = June 2, 2002
accessdate = 2008-01-14] Himself from a backward class, he introduced reservation for the backward classes in the Government jobs, in 1978.

Thakur served as the President of Samyukta Socialist Party. He was a mentor to the prominent Bihari leaders such as Lalu Prasad Yadav, Ram Vilas Paswan, and Nitish Kumar.

Karpoori Thakur's birthplace, Pitaunjhia, was renamed to Karpuri Gram (Hindi for "Karpuri village") after his death in 1988. The [http://jktlawcollege.org/ Jan Nayak Karpuri Thakur Vidhi Mahavidyalaya] (Law College) in Buxar is also named after him. The Department of Posts released a commemorative stamp in his memory.

References

External links

* [http://www.indianpost.com/viewstamp.php/Alpha/K/KARPOORI%20THAKUR Karpoori Thakur-COMMEMORATIVE STAMP]
* [http://www.hindu.com/fline/fl2010/stories/20030523006101000.htm Jayaprakash Narayan:Another Rally another day]