Karpuri Gram in Bihar’s Samastipur district is poised to gain attention as Prime Minister Narendra Modi launches the NDA’s election campaign there on October 24.
Karpuri Gram, a modest village in Bihar’s Samastipur district, has come under political spotlight in the midst of campaigning for the Bihar elections. It is from this rural settlement that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch his election campaign in support of National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidates on October 24.
PM Modi’s choice of Karpuri Gram to kick off his campaign, experts believe, signals the BJP’s strategy for the upcoming November polls.
Though Karpoori Gram may seem like any other rural settlement, it stands tall in the political memory of India. It is the birthplace of Jannayak Karpuri Thakur, the two-time Chief Minister of Bihar who was a highly revered political figure who devoted his life to championing the rights of Dalits and backward communities.
A committed socialist, Thakur served as Bihar’s Chief Minister first from 1970 to 1971 and again from 1977 to 1979. He stood firmly for social justice and the upliftment of the poor, ideals that earned him the enduring title of Jannayak or the people’s leader.
His son, Ramnath Thakur, a member of the JDU and currently Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, said that the Prime Minister’s visit to Karpuri Gram on October 24 will energise political workers ahead of the Bihar Assembly polls.
“Jannayak Karpuri Thakur’s activities, his intellect, his path of struggle, he has been fighting since 1952 and has been winning. And in today’s political parties, in order to hold on to that role, in order to give that momentum, it will be useful to give life to the workers after Prime Minister’s visit,”Ramnath Thakur said.
“There is very little to say about Mr. Thakur. He used to give very little to the village. But he used to say to the whole community, to the whole of Bihar, that if the whole of Bihar is fine, my village will also be fine. That’s why he used to take the whole of Bihar with him, not just his village,” Karpuri Thakur’s nephew, Nityanad Thakur, told PTI.
Locals remember Karpuri Thakur for leading a simple life and championing equality and fairness for all. Karpuri Thakur was a man who used to listen to everyone, who had risen from the ashes.
“Now, as far as I know about Jemni, especially after getting information from the people here, (3:08) the name of this village used to be Pitwohiya. Later, during the time of Lalu Prasadji, his name was changed to Pitwohiya, and it was named after Karpuri. He used to live in that village. He was a man of equal thinking. He was brought up in that society. That’s all I know about him,” said Jagdeo Ram, a local.
“Karpuri Thakur did a lot for the village. The elders of the village did a lot for the village. They didn’t do anything wrong. The village is still running in their name. From education to grassroots development, Karpuri Thakur’s work has left a lasting imprint on locals, many of whom still recall his visits and guidance fondly. He used to take the food and vegetables from us whenever he got a chance,” said another local.
After his first rally in Samastipur district, the birthplace of former Chief Minister of Bihar Karpoori Thakur, PM Modi will visit Karpoorigram, the ancestral home of the Bharat Ratna awardee.