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Lalu Prasad Yadav

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Lalu Prasad Yadav
File:Laluprasadyadav.jpg
Lalu Prasad Yadav at a political rally in January 2007, at Kesariya, Bihar, India.
Ex Minister of Railways Government of India
MP-Lok Sabha
In office
24 May 2004 to 22 May 2009
Preceded byNitish Kumar
Succeeded byMamata Banerjee
ConstituencySaran
Personal details
Born (1948-06-11) 11 June 1948 (age 76)[1]
Gopalganj, Bihar[2]
Political partyRashtriya Janata Dal
SpouseRabri Devi
Residence(s)10, Circular Road, Patna
25, Tuglak Road, New Delhi-11
Alma materPatna University
Websiterashtriyajanatadal.com
As of September 25, 2006

Lalu Prasad Yadav (Devanāgarī: लालू प्रसाद यादव) is an Indian politician from Bihar. He was the Minister of Railways from 2004 to 2009 in the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, and the President of the Rashtriya Janata Dal political party. He is a Member of Parliament in the 15th Lok Sabha from the Saran constituency in Bihar.

He entered politics during his student days at Patna University, and he was elected a member of the Lok Sabha in 1977 as a Janata party candidate. At the age of 29 he was one of its youngest members of Parliament.[3]

He is famous for his charismatic leadership and mass appeal,[4][5] and has been criticized for caste-based politics.[5] and the corruption cases against him.[6]

Yadav served as the Chief Minister of Bihar from 1990 till 1997, when he resigned following escalating corruption charges in 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."[7] His tenure as Chief Minister of the state has been criticized for lawlessness and has been termed as the Jungle Raj.[8]

Biography

Lalu Prasad Yadav was born in Phulwaria,block Mirganj,district Gopalganj of Bihar. His father's name is Shri [9] Kundan Rai and his mother's name is Shrimati Marchiya Devi.[10] He holds a degree in Bachelor of Laws in 1969]] and a master's in Political science from B. N. College,under Patna University. He turned down Patna University's Honorary Doctorate in 2004.[11] Lalu Prasad Yadav has done his schooling from 1st standard to 7th standard, at Bihar Military Police No-5 middle school.He did matriculation in 1965.[12] Yadav married Rabri Devi on June 1, 1973.[3] They have seven daughters and two sons.[13] His daughters are: Misha Bharti, Rohini Acharya, Chanda, Ragini,Dhannu, Hema, Lakshmi; Sons are Tej Pratap, Tejasvi.

Lalu Prasad Yadav served as the Chief Minister of Bihar two times, first for a term of five years from 10 March 1990 to 28 March 1995[12] and then for a term of three years from 4 April 1995 to 25 July 1997. Lalu Prasad Yadav also served as the Railway Minister of India from 2004 to 2009. He is member of Parliament of India for Saran(Chhapra) and National President of Rashtriya janata Dal (RJD).

Political career

Lalu Prasad Yadav entered politics as General Secretary of the Patna University Students' Union in 1970. He led the student movement inspired by Jai Prakash Narayan, Raj Narain, Karpoori Thakur and Satyendra Narayan Sinha. The former Chief Minister of Bihar and the then President of Bihar State[14] Janata Party, Satyendra Narayan Sinha supported him as a candidate for the Lok Sabha and campaigned for him.[15][16] He was elected as a member of the 9th Lok Sabha on a Janata Party ticket at the age 29, becoming one of the youngest members of the Indian Parliament at the time.

In a span of 10 years, Yadav became a formidable force in Bihar State Politics. During the Indian general elections in 1989 and state assembly elections, he successfully led the National Front coalition in Bihar. It was, therefore, no surprise that he was elected the Chief Minister leaving behind Ram Sundar Das, a former chief minister from the same party, when it came to power in the 1990 Assembly elections. The World Bank lauded his party for its work in the 1990s on the economic front.[17]

A report was published by the BBC news in 1996 according to which the police unearthed a Rs. 950 crore (US$ 267 Million), Fodder Scam in Bihar, which allegedly involved Yadav and the State's leading bureaucrats and politicians, albeit the probe itself was ordered by him. He claimed it to be an Opposition conspiracy to stop his political growth.[18] The fodder scam forced Yadav to resign from the office of Chief Minister and he made his wife, Rabri Devi, his successor as the state's Chief Minister.[19]

In May 2012, Lalu Prasad Yadav envisaged Hamid Ansari, currently the Vice-President, as a presidential candidate. [20]

Rashtriya Janata Dal

RJD Flag

Yadav formed the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) in 5 July 1997,[21] after breaking away from the Janata Dal. According to Limca Book of Records, he is the longest serving president of an Indian Political Party.[22] He remained in power in Bihar for more than one and a half decades. In November 2005 elections, his party, the RJD, could win just 54 seats, which put his party in third place, after the 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, RJD tally was reduced to just 22 seats whereas the ruling alliance claimed a record 206 out of the 243 Assembly seats.[23]

Tenure as a Union Minister

Yadav was elected to the 14th Lok Sabha from Chhapra and Madhepura seats of Bihar. He was able to defeat the high profile BJP leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy from Chhapra and the JD(U) president Sharad Yadav from Madhepura. He became the railway minister in the UPA Government. Later, he gave up the Madhepura seat.

Yadav banned plastic cups from being used to serve tea at railway stations and ordered that they be replaced by kulhars (earthen cups), to generate more employment in rural areas.[24] Later, he also said that he had plans to introduce buttermilk[25] and khādī.[26] In June 2004, he announced that he would get on the railway himself to inspect its problems and went on to board the Patna railway station at midnight.[27]

When he took over, the Indian Railways was a loss-making organization. In the 4 years under his leadership, it made a cumulative total profit of Rs. 25,000 crores (US $5.2 billion).

He left passenger fares untouched and found several other profitable sources of revenue for the Railways. He also improved on his first year's performance by stating a profit of 14,000 crores with decreased freight and unchanged passenger fares in 2006. Then, in the 2007 budget, he increased the profit level to 20,000 crores with the introduction of cushion seats in all unreserved compartments. In 2008, profits were 25,000 crores (equals US $6.25 billion @ $1~Rs.40)

Well known schools of management were interested in Yadav's leadership in managing the turnaround (with more or less the same IAS officers & the same workforce who worked under the previous ministers). He went to and addressed over a hundred students from Harvard, Wharton and others in Hindi. He has received invitations from 8 Ivy League schools for lectures.[28] The turnaround of the Indian Railways is now being studied by the students of the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad.[29] Prof G. Raghuram, a faculty member, IIM-A, has already conducted a detailed study on the Railways turnaround.[30]

In August 2008, CNN-IBN alleged that Yadav had misused his position as the Union Railway Minister to help his relatives acquire land.[31] Earlier Railway ministers and his political opponents Mamata Banerjee & Nitish Kumar have raised doubts over Lalu's achievements.[32]

Recently, a very popular book "Garibon ke Masiha Evam Jan Nayak - Lalu Prasad Yadav" was launched by renowned author and writer Sri Sanjay Suman .Yadav has a sizable fan following in Bollywood, which includes actors Sunil Shetty and Raza Murad and directors Mahesh Manjrekar and Mahesh Bhatt to name a few. Indian 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".[33] Mahesh Bhatt has gone to the extent of saying that Yadav deserves to become Prime Minister of India.[34] A Bollywood movie 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 and Yadav, however the politician made a guest appearance in it.

These incidences are viewed by some people as an attempt by the mainstream media to make deliberate fun of Yadav's accent although the movie was not a big hit.

Criticisms and controversies

Corruption allegations

Yadav has been charged in several corruption cases,[35] the most infamous being the "Fodder Scam" in which about Rs. 950 crores (US $211.85 million) were siphoned off from the animal husbandry department. Laloo Yadav has been an accused in many of the 63-odd cases filed. He has been remanded to custody on multiple occasions because of the number of cases. Over 64 people have been convicted in the case. "Lalu accused in six fodder scam cases". Outlook. April 25, 2005. Retrieved 2006-05-29.

"The ride to Ranchi". Frontline. 2001. Retrieved 2006-05-29. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help) Yadav was first sent to "Judicial remand" (Bihar Military Police guest house, Patna) on July 30, 1997, for 134 days.[36] On October 28, 1998, he was again sent to the same guest house for 73 days. When the Supreme Court of India took exception to his guest house stay, he had also moved to the Beur jail in Patna. He was later remanded for 11 days on April 5, 2000, in a disproportionate assets case. He surrendered along with his wife, Rabri Devi, and was sent to the Beur Jail.[36] Due to the proceedings in the fodder scam, Yadav was remanded for a day in Beur jail on November 28, 2000.

On November 26, 2001, Yadav was again remanded, in a case related to the fodder scam.[37] He accused the NDA of creating a conspiracy against him. On October 1, 2004, the Supreme Court of India served a notice to Yadav and his wife, Rabri Devi, on the fodder scam. This was in response to a petition, which alleged that they have been interfering with late in the investigation. Since Laloo Yadav is currently a member of the Union Government at Delhi, the CBI has been accused of dragging its feet on the issue.[38]

Accusations against the BJP

On August 5, 2004, Yadav claimed that L. K. Advani, a senior BJP leader and the Leader of the Opposition was an accused in a conspiracy to kill Muhammad Ali Jinnah and described him as an 'international absconder'. On September 14, 2004, Lalu asked L. K. Advani to come clean on 'his involvement' in the alleged conspiracy to assassinate the founder of Pakistan, Mohammed Ali Jinnah.[39]

On September 28, 2004, Lalu alleged Mr. Venkaiah Naidu, the then Union Rural Minister, of having sold 55,000 tonnes of wheat in the group of drought relief distribution in AP. "A CBI probe will be initiated to find the truth" he said.[40]

Use of Osama bin Laden's look-alike

While campaigning for Bihar elections in 2005, both Lalu Prasad Yadav and Ram Vilas Paswan used a look-alike of Osama bin Laden to woo Muslim voters. The look-alike would dress like bin Laden, accompany them in their helicopter to various election meetings, share the stage with them and make speeches that attacked the United States for its alleged anti-Muslim activities.[41][42] Pramod Mahajan, senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party, had criticized both leaders for this by saying that they were "glorifying the name of a man who is recognised as the most wanted terrorist in the world."[42]

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.
Yadav together with Ram Vilas Paswan and Amar Singh at a party rally in Mumbai during the 2009 general elections.
  • 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.
  • 2009: Re-elected to the 15th Lok Sabha (5th term).

See also

Reference Footnotes

  1. ^ While the Indian media was unsure as to the spelling of Mr. Yadav's name, in June 2004, he issued a clarification to the media to endure that his name was spelt as Lalu and not Laloo."It's Lalu not Laloo and it's official (June 24, 2004)". Rediff.com. Retrieved 2006-05-08.
  2. ^ "B'day bash only when communal forces are wiped out: Laloo". Daily Excelsior. Retrieved 2006-05-08.
  3. ^ a b Lalu Prasad Yadav
  4. ^ Amita Malik. "Laloo in Wonderland". The Tribune. Retrieved 2006-05-18.
  5. ^ a b Amberish K Diwanji. "Laloo in a rascal, but I will vote for him". Rediff.com. Retrieved 2007-02-25.
  6. ^ Laloo Prasad taken into custody, BBC News, 5 April 2000
  7. ^ "Rabri's kitchen instinct". India Today. Retrieved 2009-04-28.
  8. ^ Reuters. 2009-04-14 http://blogs.reuters.com/india/2009/04/14/bihar-after-the-jungle-raj/. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  9. ^ Lucent's Bihar General Knowledge, Lucent Publication, Page No- 328
  10. ^ Lalu Prasad Yadav, "The darling of the masses and the favourite whipping-boy of the media, Lalu Prasad Yadav is one person who defies stereotypes. he is the present Union Railways Minister."
  11. ^ "Laloo says 'no' to PU doctorate". The Times Of India. 2004-01-11.
  12. ^ a b Lucent's Bihar General Knowledge, Lucent's Publication, Page No- 328
  13. ^ Thakurta, Paranjoy Guha (May 8, 2004). "The durability of Laloo Prasad Yadav". Business Line. Retrieved February 24, 2012.
  14. ^ Bihar chief ministership battle 1977. Retrieved 2007-06-04.
  15. ^ "Lok Sabha Debates". Retrieved 2007-07-10.
  16. ^ A J Philip. "Satyendra Narayan Sinha". The Tribune. Retrieved 2006-09-05.
  17. ^ "World Bank Report: Bihar - Towards a Development Strategy". World Bank. Retrieved 2006-05-23.
  18. ^ "More charges framed against Lalu Yadav". The Tribune. Retrieved 2006-05-08.
  19. ^ "Profile: Laloo Prasad Yadav". BBC News. Retrieved 2006-05-08.
  20. ^ Tewary Amarnath.Lalu pitches for Hamid Ansari as next Prez
  21. ^ Rashtriya Janata Dal : Un-Official Website
  22. ^ "Laloo enters Limca Book of Records". The Tribune. Retrieved 2006-08-24.
  23. ^ http://news.oneindia.in/2010/11/24/bihar-assembly-election-2010-results-rjd-jdu.html. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  24. ^ "Lalu's 'kulhad', a flop in Bihar". The Times of India. May 1, 2005. Retrieved 2006-05-23.
  25. ^ "Lalu spares passengers; freight untouched". Chennai, India: The Hindu. 2004-07-07. Retrieved 2006-05-18.
  26. ^ "Lalu refuses to be CEO, Railways India". The Times of India. 2006-05-05. Retrieved 2006-05-18.
  27. ^ "Laloo's night out at Patna station". Deccan Herald. June 15, 2004. Retrieved 2006-05-18. [dead link]
  28. ^ The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Main News
  29. ^ "CEO Lalu set to enter IIM-A classroom". The Economic Times. 2006-05-03. Archived from the original on 2006-10-09. Retrieved 2006-05-23.
  30. ^ "IIM-A awaits Lalu's Rly turnaround story". The Business Line. Retrieved 2006-09-07.
  31. ^ Investigation unearths Lalu's land-for-job scam
  32. ^ "Lalu a juggler, Nitish echoes Mamata". The Economic Times. 2009-07-11. Retrieved 2009-07-11.
  33. ^ Amarnath Tiwary. "Laloo's Filmi Fans". Bihar Times (coutsey:Outlook). Retrieved 2006-08-10. [dead link]
  34. ^ . Deccan Herald http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/july042004/sl4.asp. Retrieved 2012-02-24. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)[dead link]
  35. ^ Laloo Prasad taken into custody, BBC News, 5 April 2000
  36. ^ a b "The ride to Ranchi". Frontline. 2001. Retrieved 2006-05-29. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  37. ^ Ahmed Soroor Laloo Prasad Yadav surrenders before CBI special court, November 26, 2001
  38. ^ "Fodder scam: SC notices to Lalu, Rabri". Rediff.com. October 1, 2004. {{cite web}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Missing or empty |url= (help)
  39. ^ "Laloo to Advani: Come clean on Jinnah murder". Press Trust of India. September 14, 2004. Retrieved 2006-08-09.
  40. ^ "Laloo seeks CBI probe against NDA". expressindia.com. September 28, 2004. Retrieved 2006-08-09.
  41. ^ Mishra, Bisheshwar (January 19, 2005). "Paswan employs Osama clone". The Times of India. Retrieved September 14, 2012.
  42. ^ a b Mishra, Deepak (May 3, 2011). "The other Osama who had a brief brush with fame". The Telegraph (Calcutta). Retrieved September 14, 2012.
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Political offices
Preceded by Minister of Railways
25 May 2004 – 18 May 2009 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chief Minister of Bihar
1990–1997 		Succeeded by

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