Lalu Prasad Yadav (Devanāgarī: लालू प्रसाद यादव) is an Indian politician from Bihar. He was Minister of Railways from 2004 to 2009 in the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, and 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.[4]
He is famous for his charismatic leadership and mass appeal.[5][6], and has been criticized for caste-based politics [6] and the corruption cases against him.
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 Chief Minister. Her political opponents often accused her as having served as his "surrogate."
Early life and education
Lalu Prasad Yadav was born in Phulwaria, in the Gopalganj district of Bihar. His father's name was Kundan Rai and Mother's name was Marachhiya Devi.[4] He is a lawyer by education. He holds Bachelor's degree in Law(LLB.) and Master in Political science from B. N. College, Patna, Patna University. He had turned down the Patna University's Honorary Doctarate in 2004 [9] Lalu Prasad Yadav had his schooling, from 1st standard to 7th standard, at Bihar Military Police No-5 middle school.
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 and Karpoori Thakur. The former Chief Minister of Bihar and then-President of Bihar State[10]Janata Party, Satyendra Narayan Sinha supported him as a candidate for the Lok Sabha and campaigned for him.[11][12] He was elected as a member of 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.
Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Laloo Prasad Yadav and Chief Minister Rabri Devi hold up lanterns, the RJD's election symbol, at a campaign rally in Jehanabad in Feb 1998
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.[13]
A report was published by the BBC news in 1986 according to which the police unearthed a Rs 1950 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. Some people claim it to be an opposition's conspiracy to stop his unprecedented political growth.[14] The fodder scam forced Yadav to resign from the office of Chief Minister and he brought his wife, Rabri Devi, as his successor.[15]
Railways Minister
Yadav banned plastic cups to serve tea at railway stations and ordered that they be replaced by kulhads (earthen cups), to generate more employment in rural areas.[17] Later, he also said that he had plans to introduce buttermilk[18] and khādī[19]. 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.[20]
When he took over, the Indian Railways was a loss-making organization. In the 4 years under his leadership, made a cumulative total profit of Rs. 25,000 crore (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 crore (equals $ 6.25 billion @ $1~Rs.40)
Well known schools of management were interested in Yadav's leadership in managing the turnaround (with more or less the same IAS officers & the same workforce who worked under the previous ministers). He went to and addressed over a hundred students from Harvard, Wharton and others in Hindi. He has received invitations from 8 Ivy League schools for lectures.[21] The turnaround of the Indian Railways is now being studied by the students of the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad.[22] Prof G. Raghuram, a faculty member, IIM-A, has already conducted a detailed study on the Railways turnaround.[23]
In August 2008, CNN-IBN alleged that Yadav had misused his position as the Union Railway Minister to help his relatives acquire land.[24]. Earlier Railway ministers and his political opponents Mamata Banerjee & Nitish Kumar has raised doubt over Lalu's achievements [25]
Corruption allegations
Yadav has been charged with corruption cases [37], the most infamous being the "Fodder Scam". In the Fodder Scam, about Rs. 950 crore (US$ 211.85 million) was siphoned off from the animal husbandry department. Laloo Yadav has been an accused in many of the 63 odd cases filed.He has been remaned 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. http://www.outlookindia.com/pti_news.asp?id=294484. Retrieved 2006-05-29.
"The ride to Ranchi". Frontline. December 2001. http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl1825/18250430.htm. Retrieved 2006-05-29. Yadav was first sent to "Judicial remand" (Bihar Military Police guest house, Patna) on July 30, 1997 for 134 days.[38] On October 28, 1998, he was sent again to the same guest house for 73 days. When the Supreme Court of India took exception to his guest house stay, he had also shifted 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.[38] Due to 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.[39] He accused 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 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 it's feet on the issue
Personal life
Yadav married Rabri Devi on June 1, 1973.[4] They have two sons and seven daughters. According to him, his large family is a protest against Indira Gandhi's forced vasectomy and castration campaign during the Indian Emergency of 1975-77, see The Issue That Inflamed India, TIME Magazine http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,947859,00.html
Lalu's eldest daughter is Misa Bharati, named for the infamous Maintenance of Internal Security Act under which freedom of the press was curtailed and countless Indians jailed as political prisoners, including her father who was in prison at the time of her birth.
Positions held
* 1977: Elected to 6th Lok Sabha at the age of 29.
* 1980–1989 Member, Legislative Assembly (two terms) of Bihar.
* 1989: Becomes the leader of Opposition, Bihar Legislative Assembly, Chairman, Pustakalaya Committee, Convenor, Committee on Public Undertakings, Re-elected to 9th Lok Sabha (2nd term).
* 1990–1995 Member, Bihar Legislative Council.
* 1990–1997 Chief Minister, Bihar.
* 1995–1998 Member, Bihar Legislative Assembly.
* 1996: Lalu's name springs up in a major scam.
* 1997: parts with the [Janata Dal] and forms [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 as Cabinet Minister looking after the Ministry of Railways. In 2004, he was elected to the [Lok Sabha] with his party emerging as a key member of the Congress.
* 2009 Re-elected to the 15th Lok Sabha (5th term).
SOURCE : WIKIPEDIA
