Ram Vilas Paswan
Ram Vilas Paswan | |
|---|---|
Paswan addressing a press conference in 2018 | |
| Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution | |
| In office 26 May 2014 – 8 October 2020 | |
| Prime Minister | Narendra Modi |
| Preceded by | Sharad Pawar |
| Succeeded by | Piyush Goyal |
| Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha | |
| In office 28 June 2019 – 8 October 2020 | |
| Preceded by | Ravi Shankar Prasad |
| Succeeded by | Sushil Kumar Modi |
| Constituency | Bihar |
| In office July 2010 – 2014 | |
| Constituency | Bihar |
| Union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers | |
| In office 23 May 2004 – 22 May 2009 | |
| Prime Minister | Manmohan Singh |
| Preceded by | Sunder Lal Patwa |
| Succeeded by | M. K. Alagiri |
| Union Minister of Mines | |
| In office 1 September 2001 – 29 April 2002 | |
| Prime Minister | Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
| Preceded by | Sunder Lal Patwa |
| Succeeded by | Uma Bharti |
| Union Minister of Communications and Information Technology | |
| In office 13 October 1999 – 1 September 2001 | |
| Prime Minister | Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
| Preceded by | Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
| Succeeded by | Pramod Mahajan |
| Leader of the House in Lok Sabha | |
| In office 4 June 1996 – 4 December 1997 | |
| Prime Minister | H. D. Deve Gowda I. K. Gujral |
| Preceded by | Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
| Succeeded by | Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
| Union Minister of Railways | |
| In office 1 June 1996 – 19 March 1998 | |
| Prime Minister | H. D. Deve Gowda I. K. Gujral |
| Preceded by | C. K. Jaffer Sheriff |
| Succeeded by | Nitish Kumar |
| Union Minister of Labour | |
| In office 5 December 1989 – 10 November 1990 | |
| Prime Minister | Vishwanath Pratap Singh |
| Preceded by | Bindeshwari Dubey |
| Succeeded by | K. Chandrasekhar Rao |
| Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha | |
| In office 2014–2019 | |
| Preceded by | Ram Sundar Das |
| Succeeded by | Pashupati Kumar Paras |
| Constituency | Hajipur, Bihar |
| In office 1996–2009 | |
| Preceded by | Ram Sundar Das |
| Succeeded by | Ram Sundar Das |
| Constituency | Hajipur, Bihar |
| In office 1991–1996 | |
| Preceded by | Dasai Chowdhary |
| Succeeded by | Pitambar Paswan |
| Constituency | Rosera, Bihar |
| In office 1989–1991 | |
| Preceded by | Ram Ratan Ram |
| Succeeded by | Ram Sundar Das |
| Constituency | Hajipur, Bihar |
| In office 1977–1984 | |
| Preceded by | Ramshekhar Prasad Singh |
| Succeeded by | Ram Ratan Ram |
| Constituency | Hajipur, Bihar |
| Member of Bihar Legislative Assembly | |
| In office 1969 – 1972 | |
| Preceded by | Mishri Sada |
| Succeeded by | Mishri Sada |
| Constituency | Alauli |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 5 July 1946 Khagaria, Bihar, British India |
| Died | 8 October 2020 (aged 74) New Delhi, Delhi, India |
| Political party | Lok Janshakti Party |
| Other political affiliations | |
| Spouses | Rajkumari Devi
(m. 1969; div. 1981)Reena Sharma (m. 1983–2020) |
| Children | 4; including Chirag Paswan |
| Residence |
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| Alma mater | Patna University (M.A., LLB) |
| Awards | Padma Bhushan (2021; posthumously) |
As of 30 May, 2019 Source: | |
Ram Vilas Paswan (5 July 1946 – 8 October 2020) was an Indian politician from Bihar and the Cabinet Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution in the first and second Modi ministries. Paswan was also the president of the Lok Janshakti Party, nine-times Lok Sabha member and two-time Rajya Sabha MP. He started his political career as member of Samyukta Socialist Party and was elected to the Bihar Legislative Assembly in 1969. Later, Paswan joined Lok Dal upon its formation in 1974, and became its general secretary. He opposed the emergency, and was arrested during this period. He first entered the Lok Sabha in 1977, as a Janata Party member from Hajipur constituency, and was elected again in 1980, 1989, 1991 (from Rosera), 1996, 1998, 1999, 2004 and 2014.
In 2000, Paswan formed the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) as its president. Subsequently, in 2004, he joined the ruling United Progressive Alliance government and remained a Union Minister in Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers and Ministry of Steel. He was posthumously awarded India's third highest civilian award the Padma Bhushan in 2021.
Known for holding cabinet positions under 7 governments, Paswan was known as the weatherman of Indian politics. As of 2024, he is the longest-serving Union minister who was not a member of the Indian National Congress.