Janata Dal (United) or JD(U) parliamentarian Sanjay Kumar Jha on Monday attacked the Congress for “attempting to appropriate” socialist icon and the late former Bihar chief minister Karpoori Thakur’s legacy. He said the Bihar’s people recognise only Thakur as the true Jan Nayak or people’s hero and would never forgive the Congress for trying to confer the title on its “failed leaders.”
“There is only one people’s hero who resides in the hearts of Bihar’s people, and that is...Karpoori Thakur..,” he wrote on X in response to a Congress’s post calling Rahul Gandhi Jan Nayak.
The comments came as Gandhi, who has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of resorting to electoral malpractices, is leading a 16-day “Voter Adhikar (rights) Yatra” in poll-bound Bihar.
Jha said stealing a title does not make anyone a Jan Nayak. He alleged the Congress never honoured Thakur either in his lifetime or after his death. “Instead, [Congress] party leaders regarded him as a political threat. When Thakur became Bihar’s first non-Congress chief minister in 1970 with the support of other parties, the Congress did everything possible to topple his government,” he said.
Jha praised chief minister Nitish Kumar for consistently demanding the highest civilian award, Bharat Ratna, for Thakur. He added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government conferred the award in 2024 on his centenary. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi honoured Thakur with the country’s highest civilian award. Congress, despite being in power for decades, ignored him.”
{{/usCountry}}Jha praised chief minister Nitish Kumar for consistently demanding the highest civilian award, Bharat Ratna, for Thakur. He added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government conferred the award in 2024 on his centenary. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi honoured Thakur with the country’s highest civilian award. Congress, despite being in power for decades, ignored him.”
{{/usCountry}}The ruling JD(U) has sought to position Kumar as Thakur’s political heir.