Socialist icon and Bihar’s former Chief Minister Karpoori Thakur has been awarded the Bharat Ratna posthumously, the Rashtrapati Bhavan announced Tuesday.

The BJP-led Centre’s decision to confer the country’s highest civilian honour on Karpoori comes at a time when Bihar is celebrating the centenary of his birth anniversary from January 22-24 and the opposition INDIA alliance has been pitching for a nation-wide caste census.

Popularly known as Jan Nayak i.e., people’s leader, Karpoori served as the Bihar CM from December 1970 to June 1971 and from December 1977 to April 1979. He passed away on February 17, 1988. Belonging to the Extremely Backward Class or nai (barber) community, he was not just one of the most respected social justice leaders in north India, but one who saw early on the cleavage within the backward caste — backward and most backward.

As the CM in 1978, Karpoori implemented a layered reservation regime, which was unparalleled at that time. It provided a 26 per cent reservation model in which EBCs got 12 per cent quota, OBCs got 8 per cent, women got 3 per cent, and economically backward classes (EBWs) from among upper castes got 3 per cent.

I am delighted that the Government of India has decided to confer the Bharat Ratna on the beacon of social justice, the great Jan Nayak Karpoori Thakur Ji and that too at a time when we are marking his birth centenary. This prestigious recognition is a testament to his enduring… pic.twitter.com/9fSJrZJPSP

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 23, 2024

Expressing delight at the government of India’s decision, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on social media platform X, “This prestigious recognition is a testament to his enduring efforts as a champion for the marginalized and a stalwart of equality and empowerment. His unwavering commitment to uplift the downtrodden and his visionary leadership have left an indelible mark on India’s socio-political fabric. This award not only honours his remarkable contributions but also inspires us to continue his mission of creating a more just and equitable society.”

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh hailed Karpoori, stating on X that “I took inspiration from him when I was UP Chief Minister to pilot a law for reservation for the Ati Pichhda (extremely backward) and Ati Dalit (extreme Dalits)”.

Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) National President Nitish Kumar said the decision fulfils his party’s old demand, and would “create a very good impact among Dalits, deprived and underprivileged sections of society”.

Lalu Prasad-led RJD, which had also been demanding the Bharat Ratna for Karpoori, also welcomed the move. “We are very happy with the decision. But this is much delayed. We had carried a sustained campaign for this demand. But BJP’s decision also looks politically motivated as it is taken ahead of elections,” RJD spokesperson Mrityunjay Tiwari said.

For the BJP, evoking Thakur makes a direct appeal to the non-Yadav OBC politics that Nitish Kumar has come to represent in Bihar, and also break the singular OBC narrative the opposition is seeking to construct to wean away large sections of OBCs in Hindi-speaking states. It also subtly points at the intra-OBC cleavages between the RJD and JD (U) that made Nitish Kumar join hands with the BJP in the 1990s.

Significantly, soon after publishing the findings of the Bihar caste census survey — which showed Extremely Backward Class as the largest social block accounting for 36.1 per cent of the state’s population, Nitish Kumar had sent out teams of JD (U) leaders and workers across Bihar for Karpoori Charcha (discussions on Karpoori Thakur).

This was a bid to consolidate his EBC constituency and retain the advantage of most backward class votes, which he has been expanding ever since he became the CM for the first time in November 2005. A public meeting, to be addressed by Nitish in Patna, is also scheduled on Wednesday, on the occasion of Thakur’s anniversary.

Significantly, BP Mandal recommended a single OBC quota at the Centre in his 1980 report. Thus, the Mandal legacy and the Karpoori legacy, though similar in many ways, diverge in this crucial manner – one that is of increasing relevance now.

Following his demise in 1988, Karpoori became the biggest socialist icon after Jayaprakash Narayan and Ram Manohar Lohia. After the then V P Singh government announced the implementation of the Mandal Commission report in 1990, which ensured OBC reservation, Karpoori’s importance grew further.

The Modi government’s decision to confer the Bharat Ratna on Karpoori barely a couple of months before the Lok Sabha polls indicated the BJP’s attempt to stake claim over his legacy and its bid to take the winds out of the sails of its Bihar rivals, the JD(U) and RJD, which have been raising the social justice pitch by keeping Karpoori Thakur at the fulcrum of their EBC and OBC politics. The Centre also plans to release a postal stamp and coin in Karpoori’s name.

All the parties in Bihar have been wooing voters belonging to EBCs – a conglomerate of 130 smaller castes that often decides the winner in closely-fought elections. The decision to bestow the Bharat Ratna on Karpoori is BJP’s attempt to turn the tables on the Mahagathbandhan.