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.
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.
Sushil Kumar Modi was an Indian politician from the Bharatiya Janata Party who was a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha from Bihar. He was a Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar as well as the Finance Minister of Bihar from 2005 to 2013 and 2017 to 2020. He was a lifelong member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. He was appointed the Chairman of the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers for the Implementation of Goods and Service Tax in July 2011.
Ali Anwar Ansari is an Indian journalist,social activist and politician. He is the founder of Pasmanda Muslim Mahaz,concerned with fighting discrimination against lower-caste and Dalit Muslims.
The Bihar Legislative Assembly,also known as the Bihar Vidhan Sabha,is the lower house of the bicameral Bihar Legislature of the state of Bihar in India. The first state elections were held in 1952.
There was a political crisis in Bihar state of India during February 2015 over the post of the Chief Minister of Bihar. Incumbent Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi did not vacate the post for former Chief Minister Nitish Kumar,who wanted to return,resulting in a split in the political party,JD(U). After days,the Governor asked Manjhi to prove majority in house by trust vote. Manjhi quit the post on day of vote and later Nitish Kumar took oath as chief minister again on 22 February 2015 ending the crisis.
Vijay Kumar Chaudhary is an Indian politician. He has been a member of Bihar Legislative Assembly since 1982,and is currently serving as the Cabinet Minister for Water Resources and Parliamentary Affairs ministries in the Government of Bihar.
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.
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.
The Legislative Assembly election was held over five phases in Bihar through October–November 2015 before the end of the tenure of the prior Legislative Assembly of Bihar on 29 November 2015.
Sudama Prasad is an Indian politician,member of the Bihar Legislative Assembly who serves as a Member of Parliament in the 18th Lok Sabha from Arrah. He was elected in the 2024 Indian General Election as a candidate of Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation.
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.
Brij Kishor Bind is an Indian politician from Bharatiya Janata Party and was the former cabinet minister of Mines,Geology,Backward and EBC Welfare department in the Government of Bihar. He has been elected on three occasions as a MLA for the Chainpur constituency in Kaimur district,Bihar. He belongs to Bind caste. According to former Bihar minister Brij Kishor Bind,Lord Shiva has been described as Bind caste in Shiva Purana.
The Bihar Legislative Assembly election was held in three phases through October–November to elect members to the Seventeenth Bihar Legislative Assembly. The term of the previous Sixteenth Legislative Assembly of Bihar ended on 29 November 2020.
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.
Tarkishore Prasad is an Indian politician belonging to the Bharatiya Janata Party who served as the 5th Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar from 16 November to 9 August 2022.He held the portfolios of Finance &Commercial Taxes along with Urban Development and Housing. He has been elected the BJP's leader in the Bihar assembly. He is currently elected as a Member of the Bihar Legislative Assembly from Katihar constituency in 2020 Bihar Legislative Assembly election.
Vijay Kumar Sinha is an Indian politician and Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar along with Samrat Choudhary under Nitish Kumar as Chief Minister. He was earlier the leader of the opposition in the Bihar Legislative Assembly. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party and a member of Bihar Legislative Assembly from Lakhisarai constituency since 2010.
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.
