Karpoori Thakur

Karpoori Thakur Biography

Karpoori Thakur was an Indian politician and former chief minister from the state of Bihar. He was popularly known by the name - Jan Nayak. He served as the chief minister of Bihar twice -December 1970 to June 1971 and December 1977 to April 1979 and thus credited as the ‘First Non-Congress Chief Minister of Bihar’. He became the chief minister for the first time representing Socialist Party/Bharatiya Kranti Dal and for the second time from Janata Dal. He has also served as the Education Minister of Bihar from 5 March 1967 to 31 January 1968 and Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar during the period 5 March 1967 – 31 January 1968. He is known for his supports for Dalits in Bihar and introduced reservation for the backward classes in the Government jobs, in 1978.

He was born in Pitaunjhia of Samastipur District Bihar, now known by the name, Karpuri Gram. He was a student activist during his college days and left his studies in the middle to join Quit India Movement in 1942. He spent 26 months in prison. After independence, he worked as a teacher at a school for a brief period before actively involved in politics. He joined Bihar Vidhan Sabha in 1952 and got arrested for leading P & T employees during the general strike of the Central Government employees in 1960.

While serving as Educational Minister of Bihar, he removed English as the compulsory subject for the matriculation curriculum. He supported Hindi language also. After becoming the chief minister of Bihar, he implemented total prohibition of alcohol in Bihar and many educational institutions were started in his name.

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Updated: May 07, 2014