Lalu Prasad Yadav

Lalu Prasad
Lalu as Union Minister of Railways, addressing in New Delhi on 12 September 2004
30th Union Minister of Railways
In office
24 May 2004  23 May 2009
Prime MinisterManmohan Singh
Preceded byNitish Kumar
Succeeded byMamata Banerjee
President of the Rashtriya Janata Dal
Assumed office
5 July 1997
Preceded byoffice established
20th Chief Minister of Bihar
In office
4 April 1995  25 July 1997
GovernorA. R. Kidwai
Preceded byPresident's rule
Succeeded byRabri Devi
In office
10 March 1990  28 March 1995
GovernorMohammad Yunus Saleem
Preceded byJagannath Mishra
Succeeded byPresident's rule
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office
22 May 2009  3 October 2013
Preceded byconstituency established
Succeeded byRajiv Pratap Rudy
ConstituencySaran, Bihar
In office
24 May 2004  22 May 2009
Preceded byRajiv Pratap Rudy
Succeeded byconstituency abolished
ConstituencyChhapra, Bihar
In office
10 March 1998  26 April 1999
Preceded bySharad Yadav
Succeeded bySharad Yadav
ConstituencyMadhepura
In office
2 December 1989  10 March 1990
Preceded byRambahadur Singh
Succeeded byLal Babu Rai
ConstituencyChhapra, Bihar
In office
23 March 1977  22 August 1979
Preceded byRamshekhar Prasad Singh
Succeeded bySatya Deo Singh
ConstituencyChhapra, Bihar
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
In office
10 April 2002  13 May 2004
ConstituencyBihar
12th Leader of the Opposition
Bihar Legislative Assembly
In office
18 March 1989  7 December 1989
Preceded byKarpoori Thakur
Succeeded byAnup Lal Yadav
Member of Bihar Legislative Assembly
In office
3 March 2000  10 April 2002
Preceded byVijay Singh Yadav
Succeeded byRama Nand Yadav
ConstituencyDanapur
In office
4 April 1995  10 March 1998
Preceded byUday Narayan Rai
Succeeded byRajgir Choudhary
ConstituencyRaghopur
In office
8 June 1980  2 December 1989
Preceded byRam Sundar Das
Succeeded byRaj Kumar Roy
ConstituencySonpur
Member of Bihar Legislative Council
In office
7 May 1990  4 April 1995
Constituencyelected by Legislative assembly member's
Personal details
Born (1948-06-11) 11 June 1948
Phulwariya, Bihar, India
Political partyRashtriya Janata Dal
Other political
affiliations
Janata Dal
Spouse
(m. 1973)
RelationsTej Pratap Singh Yadav (son-in-law)
Chiranjeev Rao (son-in-law)
Sadhu Yadav (brother-in-law)
Subhash Prasad Yadav (brother-in-law)
Children9 (including Tejashwi Yadav, Tej Pratap Yadav and Misa Bharti)
Parents
  • Kundan Rai (father)
  • Marachhiya Devi (mother)
Alma materPatna University (B.A.,LLB)
Websiterjd.co.in/shri-lalu-prasad/

Lalu Prasad (born 11 June 1948) is an Indian politician who served as the chief minister of Bihar from 1990 to 1997 with a brief interruption in 1995 and as the union minister for Railways from 2004 to 2009. He is the founder and president of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) a prominent political party in Bihar. He is also a former member of Parliament (MP) of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

Lalu Prasad Yadav is often regarded as a political messiah for the lower castes in Bihar, particularly the Other Backward Classes (OBCs), Scheduled Castes (SCs), and Muslim communities. His political rise in the 1990s marked a significant shift in Bihar's social and political landscape, which had long been dominated by upper-caste elites.

He entered politics at Patna University as a student leader and, in 1977, was elected as one of the youngest members of the Lok Sabha for the Bharatiya Lok Dal of the Janata Alliance. He became the chief minister of Bihar in 1990. His party came to power in the 2015 Bihar Legislative Assembly election in coalition with Nitish Kumar of JD(U). The coalition ended when Nitish resigned and the RJD was ousted, becoming the opposition party.

In the 2020 Bihar Legislative Assembly election, the RJD remained the single largest party in Bihar, and along with JD(U) in power after JD(U) rejoined MGB in 2022, headed the government until JD(U) returned to NDA.

Lalu was convicted in the controversial Fodder Scam, and was serving a term until 17 April 2021, when he was granted bail from the High Court.