Karpoori Thakur son leads new V-P race

NDA plans to play the BC card on Dhankhar's successor

- RAJESH KUMAR THAKUR @ New Delhi

A day after Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar suddenly resigned citing health reasons, the NDA weighed options to field a candidate from the backward or extremely backward classes as his successor.

Several NDA MPs, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the ruling alliance is leaning toward a nominee from the backward communities. Among the names doing the rounds, Ram Nath Thakur — currently Minister of State for Agriculture and son of former Bihar chief minister and Bharat Ratna awardee Karpoori Thakur — is being seen as a frontrunner.

Belonging to the Nai (barber) community, which falls under the ati-pichhara category, Thakur's candidacy is seen as a nod to caste dynamics ahead of upcoming elections.