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.
Ram Vilas Paswan was an Indian politician from Bihar and the Cabinet Minister of Consumer Affairs,Food and Public Distribution in the first and second Modi ministries. Paswan was also the president of the Lok Janshakti Party,nine-times Lok Sabha member and two-time Rajya Sabha MP. He started his political career as member of Samyukta Socialist Party and was elected to the Bihar Legislative Assembly in 1969. Later,Paswan joined Lok Dal upon its formation in 1974,and became its general secretary. He opposed the emergency,and was arrested during this period. He first entered the Lok Sabha in 1977,as a Janata Party member from Hajipur constituency,and was elected again in 1980,1989,1991,1996,1998,1999,2004 and 2014.
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.
Although India is a parliamentary democracy,the country's politics has become dynastic or with high level of nepotism,possibly due to the absence of party organizations,independent civil-society associations which mobilize support for a party,or centralized financing of elections. The dynastic phenomenon is present at the national,state,regional,and district level. The Nehru–Gandhi family has produced three Indian prime ministers,and family members have largely led the Congress party since 1978. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also has several dynastic leaders. In addition to the major national parties,other national and regional parties such as Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK),Shiromani Akali Dal,Shiv Sena,Samajwadi Party,Rashtriya Janata Dal,Janata Dal Secular,Jharkhand Mukti Morcha,Kerala Congress,Jammu &Kashmir National Conference,Indian Union Muslim League,AIMIM,and the Nationalist Congress Party are all dominated by families,mostly those of the party founders.
Kailashpati Mishra was an Indian politician. He was a leader of Jana Sangh,and later Bharatiya Janta Party. He was the Finance Minister from 1977 to 1979. He was Governor of Gujarat from May 2003 to July 2004.
Satyendra Narayan Sinha was an Indian politician and statesman,participant in the Indian independence movement,a leading light of Jaya Prakash Narayan's ‘complete revolution’movement during the Emergency and a former Chief Minister of Bihar. Affectionately called Chhote Saheb,he was also a seven-time Member of Parliament from the Aurangabad constituency,a three-term Member of the Bihar Legislative Assembly,and a Member of the Bihar Legislative Council once. Regarded to be one of India's most influential regional people of the time,his reputation was synonymous with being a strict disciplinarian and tough taskmaster.
Vidya Charan Shukla was an Indian politician whose political career spanned six decades. He was predominantly a member of the Indian National Congress,but also had spells in Jan Morcha,Janata Dal,Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya),Nationalist Congress Party and Bharatiya Janata Party. He was known as a close associate of Indira Gandhi.
General elections were held in India on 3 and 6 January 1980 to elect the members of the seventh Lok Sabha. The Janata Party alliance came into power in the 1977 general elections amidst public anger with the Indian National Congress (R) and the Emergency. However,its position was weak;the loose coalition barely held on to a majority with only 295 seats in the Lok Sabha and never quite had a firm grip on power. Bharatiya Lok Dal leaders Charan Singh and Jagjivan Ram,who had quit the Congress,were members of the Janata alliance but were at loggerheads with Prime Minister Morarji Desai.
Digvijay Singh was an Indian politician from the state of Bihar,and an associate of George Fernandes of Janata Dal and later Samata Party,now led by Uday Mandal its President. He represented Banka in the Lok Sabha a few times. He was elected to Rajya Sabha twice. He died on 24 June 2010 in London after suffering a brain haemorrhage.
Professor Ram Deo Bhandary,a politician from the Rashtriya Janata Dal party,was a Member of the Parliament of India representing Bihar in the Rajya Sabha,the upper house of the Indian Parliament. He was also a great leader,social worker and teacher. He is very well known in Bihar for his great works.
Ravi Shankar Prasad is an Indian politician and lawyer,from the Bharatiya Janata Party. A Member of Parliament since 2000,first in the Rajya Sabha (2000–2019) and then in the Lok Sabha,Prasad has served as Union Minister multiple times:As Minister of State,he served in the ministries of Coal (2001–2003),Law and Justice (2002–2003),and Information and Broadcasting (2003–2004) under Atal Bihari Vajpayee's premiership;as Cabinet Minister,he held the Law and Justice,Communications,and Electronics and Information Technology (2014–2021) portfolios under Narendra Modi's premiership.
Sharad Yadav was an Indian politician from the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) party. He was elected to the Lok Sabha seven times and to the Rajya Sabha four times from JD(U). He was the first national president of Janata Dal (United),serving from its formation in 2003 until 2016. He was disqualified from the Rajya Sabha in 2017 and removed from party leadership positions for engaging in anti-party activities.
Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna was an Indian National Congress leader and former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh;he later joined Bharatiya Lok Dal and worked with Charan Singh.
Tarkeshwari Sinha was an Indian politician and independence activist from Bihar. Among the first female politicians of the country,she took active role in the Quit India Movement. At the age of 26,she was elected to the 1st Lok Sabha from Patna East constituency in 1952. Subsequently,she was re-elected to the Lok Sabha in 1957,1962 and 1967 from Barh constituency. She was the first female Deputy Finance Minister in the union cabinet led by prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru from 1958 to 1964. She had also led a delegation to the U.N. and Tokyo. Gulzar’s critically acclaimed movie,Aandhi was partly inspired by Tarkeshwari Sinha,apart from Indira Gandhi.
Chaturanan Mishra was an Indian politician and trade unionist. Mishra,who was born in Nahar,Madhubani District,was a key leader of the Communist Party of India in Bihar,and served as the Agriculture Minister of India in the United Front government.
Chandradeo Prasad Verma was a politician who was elected to the Lok Sabha,the lower house of Parliament of India from the Arrah,Bihar in 1977,1980 and 1996. He was the Union Minister of State for Rural Areas and Employment. He was earlier Member of the Bihar Legislative Assembly and a Cabinet minister in Bihar.
Chhedi Paswan is a former member of 16th Lok Sabha and a former member of Bihar Legislative Assembly. He represented the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from 2014 to 2024. At various points,he has been with Janata Party,then its Charan Singh faction,then the reunited Janata Dal,Bahujan Samaj Party,Nationalist Congress Party,Lalu Prasad Yadav's RJD and Nitish Kumar's JD(U).
The Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha is an elected Member of Parliament,Rajya Sabha who leads the official opposition in the Upper House of the Parliament of India. The Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha is the parliamentary chairperson of the largest political party in the Rajya Sabha that is not in government.
