News Brief
JD(U)’s Leader Slams Congress For Calling Rahul Gandhi ‘Jan Nayak’, Says Only Karpoori Thakur Deserves The Title
Former Bihar CM Karpoori Thakur
JD(U) leader Sanjay Kumar Jha on Monday (18 August) accused the Congress of insulting socialist icon and former Bihar chief minister Karpoori Thakur by calling Rahul Gandhi a “Jan Nayak.”
He reacted on X to a Congress post that hailed Gandhi as a people’s hero while he leads the 16-day “Voter Adhikar (rights) Yatra” in poll-bound Bihar.
“There is only one people’s hero who resides in the hearts of Bihar’s people, and that is...Karpoori Thakur..,” Jha declared, stressing that Bihar would never forgive Congress for attempting to confer the title on its “failed leaders.” He asserted that “stealing a title does not make anyone a Jan Nayak.”
Jha alleged that Congress never honoured Thakur, either during his life or after his death. He recalled that when Thakur became Bihar’s first non-Congress chief minister in 1970 with support from other parties, the Congress “did everything possible to topple his government.”
The JD(U) parliamentarian praised chief minister Nitish Kumar for consistently demanding Bharat Ratna for Thakur. He credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government for fulfilling that demand in 2024 on Thakur’s birth centenary.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi honoured Thakur with the country’s highest civilian award. Congress, despite being in power for decades, ignored him,” Jha said.
JD(U) continues to project Kumar as Thakur’s political heir, while Congress struggles to reclaim ground in Bihar ahead of elections.
