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.
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.
The voter turnout in 2000 assembly polls was 62.6%.
Rashtriya Lok Samta Party was a political party in India led by Upendra Kushwaha. It was launched on 3 March 2013 and was based in the state of Bihar. The party came into existence as a result of a feud between Nitish Kumar and Upendra Kushwaha,after which Kushwaha left The Nitish Kumar lead Janata Dal (United) and formed his own party. It has faced multiple rebellions and desertions since 2015. After the relations between Nitish and Kushwaha normalized,Upendra Kushwaha merged RLSP into JDU on 14 March 2021,with this,the party ceased to exist.
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.
Anant Kumar Singh,also known as Chhote Sarkar,is an Indian politician and a former MLA from the Mokama assembly constituency of Bihar. A former member of the Janata Dal (United) (JDU) party,he joined Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) in 2020. According to his election affidavit of 2020,he is facing 38 criminal charges including 7 murders,11 attempt-to-murder and 4 cases of kidnapping.
Babu Jagdeo Prasad,alternatively spelled as Jagdev Prasad and popularly known as Jagdev Babu,was an Indian politician and a member of the Bihar Legislative Assembly who served as Bihar's deputy chief minister in 1968 for four days in the Satish Prasad Singh cabinet. A great socialist and a proponent of Arjak culture,he was the founder of Shoshit Dal and was a staunch antagonist and critic of India's caste system. He was nicknamed as the "Lenin of Bihar".
Renu Kushawaha,an Indian politician,is a former leader of Lok Janshakti Party and a former state minister of Bihar. She hails from Khagaria. She has been associated with several political parties in past,right from Samata Party and Janata Dal (United) to Bharatiya Janata Party. In 2015,she contested from Samastipur Assembly seat on a BJP ticket where she lost to RJD candidate.
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.
Manju Verma is an Indian politician and former Member of Bihar Legislative Assembly. She was the Minister of Social Welfare in the Bihar Cabinet.
Abhay Kushwaha alias is an Indian politician from the Rashtriya Janata Dal,and a Member of Parliament representing Aurangabad in Bihar,India and former Member of Legislative Assembly for Tikari in the Gaya district of Bihar. An erstwhile member of Janata Dal (United);he won the 2015 Legislative Assembly election to the Tekari constituency by defeating Anil Kumar of Hindustani Awam Morcha,a political party led by former Bihar Chief Minister,Jitan Ram Manjhi. He defeated Anil Kumar by a huge margin of votes. While Abhay secured 86,975 votes,Anil managed to get 55,162 votes only. In 2024 Indian general election,he won the Aurangabad,Bihar Lok Sabha constituency by defeating BJP's four term member of parliament,Sushil Kumar Singh. He contested on the symbol of Rashtriya Janata Dal in this election.
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.
Jayant Raj Kushwaha is an Indian politician,Member of Legislative Assembly from the Amarpur of Bihar,and Minister of Rural Work in the Government of Bihar. In the 2020 election,he defeated Jitendra Singh of the Indian National Congress. While Raj secured 33.13% of votes polled,Singh,the runner up,finished with 31.23% of the votes. Raj is a member of Janata Dal (United),the ruling party of Bihar.
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.
Rajeev Kumar Singh is a Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) representing Tarapur constituency in the Bihar Legislative Assembly in India. He is a member of Janata Dal (United). He has been elected as the MLA on 2 November 2021. Singh got the ticket from Janata Dal (United) amidst the confusion over allocation of Tarapur constituency to Rohit Chaudhary,the younger brother of leader of opposition in Bihar Legislative Council,Samrat Chaudhary. The Tarapur constituency was the stronghold of Shakuni Choudhury,who had influence over Kushwaha voters,who are dominant in this assembly constituency. However,Rajiv Kumar Singh,himself a Kushwaha,was able to defeat his nearest rival in the bypolls of 2021.
Manoj Singh Kushwaha is a former minister of Bihar. Kushwaha was the Minor Water Resources minister in the Jitan Ram Manjhi cabinet in 2014–15. He contested from the Kurhani Assembly constituency in February 2005,November 2005 and 2010 legislative assembly elections,and was victorious.
The 2024 Indian general election was held in Bihar in all 7 phases from 19 April to 1 June to elect 40 members of the 18th Lok Sabha,with the results declared on 4 June.
The Rashtriya Lok Morcha,originally established as Rashtriya Lok Janata Dal is an Indian political party formally announced by Upendra Kushwaha on 20 February 2023,in Bihar after resignation from Janata Dal (United). The party's ideology is based on the ideals of Karpoori Thakur. The foundation of the party was preceded by a two day conference organised by Upendra Kushwaha in Patna,in which he invoked the participation of all the members of Mahatama Phule Samata Parishad,a socio-political organisation and his trusted aides in Janata Dal (United). In the backdrop of this conference the foundation of the party was announced.
Tulsidas Mehta was an Indian politician,who served as Member of Bihar Legislative Assembly from Jandaha Assembly constituency. He won the 1990 Bihar Legislative Assembly election as a candidate of Janata Dal from this constituency. Mehta was a socialist politician,who also served as a minister in Government of Bihar. He is the father of another Bihar politician and former General Secretary of Rashtriya Janata Dal,Alok Kumar Mehta. He was one of the founder of Rashtriya Janata Dal. Mehta had represented Jandaha Assembly constituency multiple times,winning the Assembly elections of 1962,1969,1985,1990 and 1995.
