Lalu Prasad Yadav is an Indian politician and president of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). He is a former Chief Minister of Bihar (1990-1997), a former Railway Minister of India (2004-2009), and a former Member of Parliament (MP) of the Lok Sabha & Rajya Sabha.
Janata Dal (United) ("People's Party (United)"), abbreviated as JD(U), is an Indian political party with political presence mainly in eastern and north-eastern India. JD(U) is recognised as a state party in the states of Bihar and Manipur and is a part of government in both the states. JD(U) heads the government in Bihar and is part of the NDA government in Manipur. JD(U) won 12 seats in the 2024 Indian general election, making it the seventh largest party in the Lok Sabha. JD(U) states that they believe in promoting social justice and lifting up marginalized peoples.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal is an Indian political party, mainly based in the state of Bihar. The party was founded in 1997 by Lalu Prasad Yadav.
Rabri Devi Yadav, is an Indian politician who formerly served 3 terms as the Chief Minister of Bihar, the first and only woman till date to have held the office. She is a Member (MLC) of Bihar Legislative Council and she currently serving as the Leader of the Opposition in Bihar Legislative Council.
Nitish Kumar is an Indian politician who has been serving as the 22nd chief minister of Bihar since 22 February 2015, having previously held the office from 2005 to 2014 and for a short period in 2000. He is Bihar's longest serving chief minister whilst also holding the post for his 9th term.
Raghunath Jha was an Indian politician who was Union minister of State for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprise and member of the 14th Lok Sabha of India. He represented the Bettiah constituency of Bihar and was a member of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) political party. Born in Village Amba Ojha Tola, in Sheohar He started his career by becoming the Mukhiya of his home panchayat in the year 1967. Thereafter, in 1967 he became Chairman of Zila Parishad. He started his legislative career in 1972 when he was elected as a MLA on Congress Ticket. He was elected from Sheohar for a record six consecutive terms before 1998. He was twice elected as a Member of Parliament from Gopalganj and Bettiah respectively.
The politics of Bihar, an eastern state of India, is dominated by regional political parties. As of 2021, the main political groups are Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Janata Dal (United) (JDU), Indian National Congress (INC), Left Front, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM). There are also some smaller regional parties, including Samata Party, Hindustani Awam Morcha, Rashtriya Jan Jan Party, Rashtriya Lok Janata Dal, Jan Adhikar Party and Vikassheel Insaan Party, Lok Janshakti Party and Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party, which play a vital role in politics of state. As of 2024, Bihar is currently ruled by NDA, after JDU break out from Mahagatbandhan coalition and returned to NDA fold.
Ram Sundar Das was an Indian politician and former Chief Minister of Bihar state. He was a two-time Member of Parliament from Hajipur constituency.
The voter turnout in 2000 assembly polls was 62.6%.
The 10th Bihar Legislative Assembly elections were held in February 1990, to elect representatives for the Bihar Legislative Assembly. It resulted in a decisive victory for the Janta Dal, riding on the pan-India victory of 1989, during V. P. Singh's wave. Political manoeuvres ensured parliamentarian Lalu Prasad Yadav's victory in the chief minister-ship battle, against seasoned Bihar leader Ram Sundar Das, who was close to Janta party stalwarts like S.N. Sinha and Chandrashekhar.
Tejashwi Prasad Yadav is an Indian politician and former professional cricketer who served as the 5th Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar from 10 August 2022 to 28 January 2024.
Upendra Kumar Singh, commonly known as Upendra Kushwaha is an Indian politician, and a former Member of Bihar Legislative Council and Bihar Legislative Assembly. He has also served as Minister of State for Human Resources and Development in the Government of India. Kushwaha is a former Member of Parliament (MP) from the Karakat constituency in Rohtas district, Bihar, and a former member of the Rajya Sabha. He was the leader of Rashtriya Samata Party (RSP), his own party, which merged into Janata Dal (United) (JDU) in 2009. Later, he formed Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP), which also merged with JD(U) in 2021. On 20 February 2023, Kushwaha resigned from all positions in Janata Dal (United) and formed his own party called Rashtriya Lok Morcha due to his political problems with JD(U) and Nitish Kumar. Kushwaha contested the Lok Sabha election of 2024 from Karakat constituency and finished at a distant third position. However, he was elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha in August 2024.
Jitan Ram Manjhi is an Indian politician, serving as the Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises since 2024. He is currently a Member of Parliament from Gaya constituency and was Bihar's 23rd Chief Minister from 20 May 2014 to 20 February 2015. He was the founding President of Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM). Previously, he had served as minister for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes welfare in Nitish Kumar's cabinet. He has been a minister in several Bihar state governments, under multiple chief ministers like Chandrashekhar Singh, Bindeshwari Dubey, Satyendra Narayan Sinha, Jagannath Mishra, Lalu Prasad Yadav and Rabri Devi.
Brij Behari Prasad, also spelled Brij Bihari Prasad was an Indian politician. A member of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Prasad served as Minister for Science and Technology in the Government of Bihar. He was arrested for alleged involvement in corrupt admissions to technical institutes and was murdered on 13 June 1998 at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences in Patna, where he was undergoing treatment. It was claimed that his death was in retribution for his involvement in assassination of gangster Chhottan Shukla and five other people, who were killed on 4 December 1994, while returning home from a campaign organised in context of 1995 Bihar Legislative Assembly elections. Shukla was a gangster from the Bhumihar community, whereas Prasad was a Bania. Supporters of Prasad were thought to be responsible for the killing of Shukla.
Shakuni Choudhary is an Indian politician who is a founding member of Samata Party. He was elected to the Lok Sabha, lower house of the Parliament of India from Khagaria Lok Sabha constituency as member of the Samata Party. Choudhary has been known for political defection and has remained Deputy Speaker in the Bihar Legislative Assembly.
Mahagathbandhan, also known as Grand Alliance, is a coalition of political parties in the Eastern state of Bihar in India, formed ahead of the 2015 Vidhan Sabha elections in Bihar. The alliance consists of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Indian National Congress (INC) and Left parties including Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation-CPIML (Liberation) and Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPIM), with Tejashwi Yadav as the chairperson.
Mahagathbandhan, is a coalition of political parties in the Eastern state of Jharkhand in India. It is the major political alliance in Jharkhand. The alliance consists of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Indian National Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation. Most of the MGB constituents are members of the Indian National Congress-led Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance at pan-India level.
Samrat Choudhary, also known by his alias Rakesh Kumar is an Indian politician, who is currently serving as Deputy Chief minister of Bihar under Nitish Kumar. He is a member of the Bihar Legislative Council from the Bharatiya Janata Party. He has been the party president of BJP Bihar State unit from March 2023 to 25 July 2024. He has also remained Member of Legislative Assembly and a minister in Government of Bihar in Rashtriya Janata Dal government. Chaudhary has been a former Vice President of BJP for the state of Bihar and currently elected for the second term as MLC in 2020 after his first term ended in 2019. In 2014, Samrat planned a split in Rashtriya Janata Dal by defecting thirteen MLAs as splinter group of the party, later joining the BJP. In 2022, he was selected as the Leader of Opposition in Bihar Legislative Council. In 2024, he was also made the convener of Group of Ministers on Goods and Service Tax rate rationalisation panel.
The Luv-Kush equation is a political term used in the context of the politics of Bihar, to denote the alliance of the agricultural Kurmi and the Koeri caste, which was assumed to be approximately 15% of the state's population The alliance of these two caste groups has remained the support base of Nitish Kumar, as against the MY equation of Lalu Prasad Yadav, which constitutes Muslims and the Yadavs. Caste consciousness and the quest for political representation largely drive the politics of Bihar. The political alliance of the Koeri and the Kurmi castes, termed the "Luv-Kush equation" was formed when a massive Kurmi Chetna Rally was organised by members of the Kurmi community in 1994 against the alleged casteist politics of Lalu Yadav, who was blamed by contemporary community leaders for promoting Yadavs in politics and administration.
Deo Nath Prasad was an Indian politician, who served as Member of Bihar Legislative Assembly for four terms. He won the assembly elections to become a member of Bihar Legislative Assembly in 1977, 1980, 1990 and 1995. Prasad was a member of Janata Dal, and he held ministerial posts in Lalu Prasad Yadav's cabinet. Earlier, he was given the science and technology ministry by Yadav, however, later he was appointed as Minister for Law. Prasad used to contest assembly elections from Biharsharif Assembly constituency.
