Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday welcomed the decision to confer the country’s highest civilian award Bharat Ratna on late socialist leader Karpoori Thakur and said he was considered as the ”Devaraj Urs of Bihar”.
Taking to social media platform ‘X’, Siddaramaiah said Karpoori was a strong advocate of social justice. ”It gives me immense pleasure to note that Bharat Ratna award would be conferred on the strong advocate of social justice. Karpoori Thakur, who created reservations for backward castes in Bihar on the model of Karnataka in the seventies, is described as the ”Devaraj Urs of Bihar,” he said in a post in Kannada.
”Karpoori Thakur, who belongs to the backward Savita community, has been the chief minister of the caste-ridden state of Bihar twice, a testament to his popularity. He is most deserving of the Bharat Ranta award. My respectful obeisance to him,” he added.
Thakur was born in 1924 in one of the most backward sections of society- the Nai Samaj (barber community). He was a leader whose political journey was marked by his unwavering commitment to the marginalised sections of society.
The Rashtrapati Bhavan announced on Tuesday that Thakur will be awarded the Bharat Ratna posthumously.
Thakur, popularly known as ‘jannayak’, served as chief minister from December 1970 to June 1971 and from December 1977 to April 1979.
The two time former chief minister of Karnataka, Devaraj Urs is credited with ushering in a silent social revolution in the state and undertaking land reforms during his eight year reign from 1972. He was considered the voice of the poor and one of the greatest social reformers the state of Karnataka had seen. Urs made immense contribution to the welfare of the dalits in the state. Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar insisted that Bharat Ratna be conferred on Devaraj Urs, voice of the downtrodden.
