Lalu Prasad Yadav

Quick Introduction

About Lalu Prasad Yadav

Lalu Prasad Yadav was born on 11th June 1948. By profession, he is an Indian politician and president of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). He served as the chief minister of Bihar from 1990 to 1997 and as the railway minister of India from 2004 to 2009. Lalu Prasad Yadav was also a member of the parliament of Lok Sabha previously.

Lalu Prasad Yadav started his career in politics in 1977 when he was at Patna University. Lalu Prasad Yadav was chosen as a member of Lok Sabha at the age of 29. He became the youngest member of the Janta Party. Lalu Prasad Yadav became the chief minister of Bihar in 1990. In 2015, Lalu Prasad collaborated with Nitish Kumar of JDU, and his party came into power in Bihar legislative assembly. In this coalition, Nitish Kumar resigned, and RJD became the opposition party. Then, in the 2020 Bihar legislative assembly election, RJD was the only largest opposition party in Bihar. RJD is working with JDU and heading the government in Bihar currently.

Lalu Prasad Yadav was born in Gopalganj district in Phulwariya village of Bihar. He was born to Kundan Ray and Marachhiya Devi. Lalu Prasad Yadav went to a middle school which was situated in his locality, before moving to Patna with his elder brother. He completed his graduation (Bachelor of Laws) and post-graduation (M.A.) in Political Science from B.N College of Patna University. Lalu's brother was a peon at Bihar Veterinary College, Patna, where Lalu Yadav worked as a clerk.

Lalu Prasad Yadav married Rabri Devi on 1st June 1973 and they had two sons and seven daughters. Among them, Tej Pratap Yadav is the eldest son and Tejashwi Yadav is the Younger son. Misa Bharti is the eldest daughter. Following that, Rohini Acharya Yadav is the second daughter, and then Chanda Yadav (third daughter), Ragini Yadav (fourth daughter, married to Rahul Yadav who is the leader of Samajwadi party), Hema Yadav (fifth daughter), Anushka Yadav (sixth daughter, married to Chiranjeev Rao), and Raj Lakshmi Yadav (the youngest daughter, married to Tej Pratap Singh Yadav) are in the list of children.

Career

Lalu Prasad Yadav started his career in 1970 in politics by becoming the general secretary of the Patna University Students' Union (PUSU). Then, in 1973, he became the president of PUSU. In the year 1974, Lalu Prasad Yadav joined Jai Prakash Narayan's Bihar movement and came close to the Janata Party. Then, in 1977, Lalu Prasad Yadav won the Lok Sabha elections from Chapra, and he became a member of Lok Sabha just at the age of 29, as we discussed earlier. But in 1979, the Janta Party fell, and then in 1980, elections were held again. Lalu joined Janta Party in 1980. Lalu Prasad Yadav won the Bihar Legislative Assembly in 1980. He became the leader of the opposition in 1985. In 1989, Lalu Prasad Yadav was elected to Lok Sabha under VP. Singh, and by 1990, he got the position of leader of Yadav and the leader of minority categories. Lalu Prasad gained a lot of popularity in Bihar by that time.

In 1990, Lalu Prasad Yadav became the chief minister of Bihar; he got victory in the polls and was chosen as the chief minister. In 1993, he took some steps toward the importance of the English language in schools, and he worked on other policies that were especially beneficial for Dalits, minority communities, and backward castes. People supported Lalu Prasad Yadav, and he continued working as the CM of Bihar.

In 1997, Lalu Prasad Yadav formed a new party called Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD). Then, in 2000, Lalu Prasad Yadav won the Bihar legislative assembly and remained in opposition. In 2002, Lalu took part in the Rajya Sabha elections, and he stayed there till 2004. Rabri Yadav became the chief minister of Bihar from Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD) in 2002. Till 2005, RJD remained in power, and Rabri Devi served as a chief minister. Bihar held elections twice in 2005; new elections were held from October to November of the same year.

By 2015, Rashtriya Janta Dal became the largest party in Bihar. In the Bihar legislative assembly elections, RJD captured a total of 81 seats. Lalu Prasad Yadav collaborated with Nitish Kumar and worked as a majority to form a strong party in Bihar. After a gap of ten years, coming into power was a great success for RJD and Lalu Prasad Yadav.

Corruption Cases

Lalu Prasad Yadav was found guilty in a fodder scam in 1996. During the purchase of cattle fodder, about 9.5 billion rupees were stolen. Also, Lalu was accused of withdrawing 47 lakh rupees from the treasuries of Bhagalpur and Banka. In 2017, Lalu Prasad Yadav was again accused of a fodder scam, which involved the theft of 89 lakh rupees. During this spam, Lalu Prasad Yadav was handling the charge of the financial division, and he was also the chief minister of Bihar. For this inappropriate act, a heavy fine of rupees 10 lakh was imposed on Lalu Prasad Yadav. Again, in 2018, Lalu Prasad was found guilty of the fraud of 37.62 crore rupees. This amount was withdrawn from the treasury of Jharkhand.

Lalu Prasad Yadav and Jagannath Mishra were both involved in this case and were imprisoned for 5 years. A fine of 10 lakh rupees was imposed on both of them. In 2022, Lalu Prasad Yadav was accused in the case of the fifth fodder scam, where he illegally withdrew the amount of 139.35 crores rupees from the treasury of Doranda. He was sent to jail again, and a fine of rupees 60 lakhs was also imposed on him. Lalu Prasad Yadav was accused of one more fodder spam case of 1996, where he withdrew about 3.13 crore rupees from the Dhumka district.

Books and Movies

Notably, Lalu Prasad Yadav is a famous Indian politician. Many biographies have been written on the life of Lalu Prasad and some films have also been made on his life. Many books such as India's Miracle, A Charismatic Leader, The Making of Laloo Yadav, and Gopalganj to Raisina Road (an autobiography) are also available to display the life of Lalu Prasad Yadav. Padmashree Laloo Prasad Yadav was the first Bollywood movie, and Lalten was a Bhojiwood movie about Lalu Prasad Yadav.