Lalu Prasad Yadav
(born 11 June 1948) is an Indian politician from the state of Bihar. He was Chief Minister of Bihar from 1990 to 1997 and Minister of Railways from 2004 to 2009 with United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. He is the President of the Rashtriya Janata Dal political party. He was а Member of Parliament of 15th Lok Sabha from the Saran constituency in Bihar, but disqualified as MP owing to conviction for his involvement in the 1996 fodder scam. His younger son Tejashwi Yadav currently serves as the 4th Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar and at 26 years, is the youngest to hold Bihar deputy chief ministership. He entered politics during his student days at Patna University, and he was elected a member of the Lok Sabha in 1977 as aJ anata Party candidate. At the age of 29 he was one of its youngest members of Parliament. Yadav became Chief Minister of Bihar in 1990 but resigned in 1997 following escalating corruption charges relating to the Fodder Scam. From 1997 to 2005, with brief interruptions, his wife Rabri Devi was the Chief Minister. Her political opponents often accused her as having served as his "surrogate." His tenure as Chief Minister of the state has been criticized for lawlessness and has been termed as the Jungle Raj.
Early life
Yadav was born in Phulwaria, Bihar. His father's name is Kundan Rai and mother's name Marachhiya Devi. He is the 2nd of his parent's six sons. He attended a local middle school before moving to Patna with his elder brother. He studied Bachelor of Laws and a Master in Political Science from B. N. College,Patna University. After graduation, he got a job as clerk in Bihar Veterinary College, Patna where his elder brother also worked as a peon. He turned down Patna University's Honorary Doctorate in 2004.
Student politics and early career
Yadav entered in student politics as General Secretary of the Patna University Students' Union (PUSU) in 1970 and became its president in 1973. In 1974, he joined Bihar Movement, a student movement led by Jai Prakash Narayan (JP) against rising prices, corruption and unemployment. PUSU formed Bihar Chhatra Sangharsh Samiti to spearhead the agitation with Lalu Prasad Yadav as its president. During the movement Yadav came close to JP and was nominated as Janata Party candidate in the 1977 Lok Sabha election from Chapra by the then President of Bihar State Janata Party and veteran Bihar leader Satyendra Narayan Sinha, who campaigned for him. Janata Party formed the first non-Congress government in the history of the Republic of India and at the age of 29, Yadav became one of the youngest members of the Indian Parliament at that time. Due to continuous in-fighting and ideological differences Janata Party government fell and parliament was dissolved leading to a re-election in 1980. He was inspired by the ideology and practices of Jai Prakash Narayan and one of the father of socialist movement in India, Raj Narain. He parted ways with Morarji Desai and joined Janata Party-S led by Lokbandhu Raj Narain who was Janata Party-S president and later became Chairman. Yadav lost there-election in 1980. However he successfully contested Bihar state election in 1980 and became a member of Bihar Legislative Assembly. During the period, Yadav rose in hierarchy and was considered as one of the second-rung leaders. He was re-elected for Bihar assembly in 1985. After the death of ex-Chief Minister Karpuri Thakur, Yadav became the leader of opposition Bihar assembly in 1989. Same year, he was also elected for Lok Sabha under V. P. Singh government. By 1990, Yadav who represented single largest castes of Yadav with 11.7% of the state population, established himself as leader of lower castes. Muslims in Bihar on the other hand had traditionally served as a Congress (I) vote bank, but after the 1989 Bhagalpur violence, they shifted their loyalty to Yadav. In a span of 10 years, Yadav became a formidable force in Bihar State politics, known for his popularity among the Muslim and Yadav voters.
Rashtriya Janata Dal
Due to allegation related to Fodder Scam, a leadership revolt surfaced in Janata Dal. Yadav broke away from Janata Dal and formed a new political party Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) in 5 July 1997,. According to Limca Book of Records, in 2004 he was the longest serving president of an Indian political party. Except a brief President rule and 8 days term of Nitish Kumar, RJD remained in power in Bihar till 2005. In November 2005 state elections RJD won 54 seats putting less than both Janata Dal United (JDU) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Nitish Kumar led coalition, consisting of JD(U) and BJP, came to power. In the 2010 elections, the RJD tally was reduced to just 22 seats whereas the ruling alliance claimed a record 206 out of the 243 Assembly seats.
Positions held
- 1977: Elected to the 6th Lok Sabha at the age of 29.
- 1980–1989: Member of the Bihar Legislative Assembly (two terms).
- 1989: Becomes the leader of Opposition, Bihar Legislative Assembly, Chairman, Pustakalaya Committee, Convenor, Committee on Public Undertakings. Re-elected to the 9th Lok Sabha (2nd term).
- 1990–1995: Member of the Bihar Legislative Council.
- 1990–1997: Chief Minister of Bihar
- 1995–1998: Member of the Bihar Legislative Assembly.
- 1996: Lalu's name springs up in a major scam.
- 1997: parts with the Janata Dal and forms the Rashtriya Janata Dal.
- 1998: Re-elected to 12th Lok Sabha (3rd term).
- 1998–1999: Member, General Purposes Committee, Committee on Home Affairs and its Sub Committee on Swatantrata Sainik Samman Pension Scheme, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
- 2004: Re-elected to the 14th Lok Sabha (4th term). Appointed Cabinet Minister in the Ministry of Railways. In 2004, he was elected to the Lok Sabha with his party emerging as a key member of the UPA (United Peoples' Alliance).
- 2009: Re-elected to the 15th Lok Sabha (5th term).
Personal life
Yadav married Rabri Devi on 1 June 1973, in a traditional match arranged by their parents. Yadav has fathered nine children, two sons and seven daughters:
- Tej Pratap Yadav, elder son
- Tejashwi Yadav, younger son, ex cricketer
- Misa Bharati Devi, eldest daughter, married in 1999 to Shailesh Kumar, a software engineer
- Rohini Devi, second daughter, married in May 2002 to Rao Samaresh Singh, a US-based computer engineer, son of Rao Ranvijay Singh of Arwal-Daudnagar
- Chanda Singh, third daughter, married to Vikram Singh, and pilot with Indian Airlines, in 2006
- Ragini Yadav, fourth daughter, married to Rahul Yadav, son of Jitendra Yadav, SP MLA from Ghaziabad, now a Congress party member
- Hema Yadav, fifth daughter, married to Vineet Yadav, scion of a political family
- Dhannu (aka Anushka Rao), sixth daughter, married to Chiranjeev Rao, son of Rao Ajay Singh Yadav of the INC, sometime power minister in the Haryana government, and a scion of the lineage of Rao Tula Ram
- Rajlaxmi Singh, youngest daughter, married to Tej Pratap Singh Yadav, MP from Mainpuri and grand-nephew of Mulayam Singh Yadav
Biography
Sankarshan Thakur is author of a book based on his life titled The Making of Laloo Yadav, The Unmaking of Bihar; the book was later updated and reprinted by PicadorIndia under the title "Subaltern Sahib: Bihar and the Making of Laloo Yadav".
In popular culture
Yadav has a sizable fan following in Bollywood. Actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha, who is a political opponent of Yadav, once said, "Had Yadav not been a politician he could have been an actor". Director Mahesh Bhatt has also gone to the extent of saying that he deserves to become Prime Minister of India. He is also mimicked by various comedians like Shekhar Suman and Johnny Lever. A Bollywood film titled Padmashree Laloo Prasad Yadav was released in 2004. Though his name appeared in the title, the movie was not about him, but had characters named Padmashreee, Laloo, Prasad andYadav, however the politician made a guest appearance in it. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has produced a four-hour-long documentary India Rising in 2007 featuring Indians from various fields and Yadav, the only politician in the documentary, discusses the turnaround of Indian Railways.
