Karpoori Thakur's son leads race for new V-P

NDA plans to play the BC card on choosing 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.