Thirty-six years after his demise, the Centre on Monday announced that it will posthumously award the Bharat Ratna to Karpoori Thakur, former Bihar Chief Minister. The announcement from Rashtrapati Bhavan came a day ahead of the 100th birth anniversary of the socialist leader, popularly known as ‘Jannayak’, and received praise from leaders across the political board as being a deserving honour. However, there was also some criticism from opposition parties who felt that this was simply the BJP's move to attract voters.