Prashant Kishor demands Bharat Ratna for Bihar's first CM Shri Krishna Singh

    Sheikhpura (Bihar), Mar 25 (PTI) Jan Suraaj Party leader Prashant Kishor on Tuesday demanded that India's highest civilian award, Bharat Ratna, be conferred on Bihar's first chief minister, the late Shri Krishna Singh.
    Kishor raised the demand in Sheikhpura, the district to which 'Shri babu', as he is fondly remembered, belonged. Singh had ruled the state till his death in 1961.
    "Shri babu deserves the Bharat Ratna for what he did for Bihar, which used to be among the best-administered states in those days.
    "Bihar has been in a state of steady decline and has now reached the rock bottom. The Jan Suraaj Party is committed to reviving the glory of Shri babu's time," Kishor asserted.
    The posturing by Kishor, an upper caste Brahmin himself, can be seen as an attempt to win over the Bhumihars, arguably the most influential of the 'Savarnas' in Bihar, who had earlier been supporters of the Congress but have sided with the BJP in the last few decades.
    Singh belonged to the Bhumihar community.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)