Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav on Wednesday said the caste-based survey conducted by the Bihar government forced the Center to award Bharat Ratna to the socialist icon Karpoori Thakur.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a function organised to celebrate birth centenary of Thakur, Yadav also demanded that BSP founder Kanshi Ram and socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia should also be awarded Bharat Ratna.
"The caste-based survey conducted by the Bihar government forced the Center to confer Bharat Ratna on Karpoori Thakur. There is an atmosphere of fear in the BJP... It's a big victory for us. Our party supremo Lalu Prasad has been demanding Bharat Ratna for Karpoori-ji for several years," he said, addressing RJD workers.
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"Bharat Ratna for Karpoori Thakur has been a very old demand of ours. We had also made this demand when PM Narendra Modi came to Bihar to attend centenary celebrations of the state assembly. It is a matter of great happiness that finally Karpoori Thakur has been awarded Bharat Ratna, but its impact will also be seen politically," he added.
Yadav also shared on X a video of the Bihar assembly centenary function in which he can be seen making the demand in the presence of PM Modi.
"Our government is working for the overall development of the state. We have fulfilled what we promised. Lakhs of vacancies will be filled in many departments in the coming months," he claimed.
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Targeting the BJP, Yadav said that "some people" were doing politics of religion and caste.
"We will not allow divisive forces to create rift in the society," he added.
The RJD leader also hit out at the BJP-led government at the Centre, alleging that it was using the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to target opposition leaders.
"If Lalu Yadav did not bow before the BJP, then Tejashwi Yadav will also not bow. We will have to fight the Lok Sabha elections with full strength. They will keep using CBI and ED against me and other opposition leaders," he said.
In his address, Prasad said that his demand for a Bharat Ratna for Thakur was old.
"Tejashwi has rightly said that now Bharat Ratna should be awarded to Kanshi Ram and Ram Manohar Lohia," he noted.
Speaking to reporters at a different event, Tejashwi had said, "We have also been demanding Bharat Ratna for Kanshi Ram and Lohia-ji. The Center should award Bharat Ratna to them also."
