Lalu Prasad Yadav Biography: Birth, Age, Family, Education, Political Career, Fodder Scam and More

Lalu Prasad Yadav is an Indian politician who was found guilty in the infamous fodder scam. He has been sentenced to a five-year jail term and fined Rs. 60 lakh in the fifth fodder scam case by a CBI court. Take a look at his biography below.

Jagran Josh Updated: Mar 7, 2023 15:35 IST

Lalu Prasad Yadav Biography: Birth, Age, Family, Education, Political Career, Fodder Scam and More

Lalu Prasad Yadav Biography: Lalu Prasad Yadav is an Indian politician. He has held high-flying posts both in the state and in the Parliament. Yadav is the former Chief Minister of Bihar, former Union Minister, former MP of Lok Sabha, and President of Rashtriya Janata Dal, a political party in Bihar, India.

Lalu Prasad Yadav Biography

Birth	11 June 1948
Age	73 years
Education	B.A.L.L.B. (B. N. College- Patna University)
Positions served	Former CM of Bihar Former Union Minister of Railways
Political Party	Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)
Spouse	Rabri Devi
Children	9

Lalu Prasad Yadav Biography: Birth, Age, Family, and Education

Lalu Prasad Yadav was born on 11 June 1948 in the Phulwaria area of the Gopalganj District in Bihar to Kundan Rai. He attended a local school before moving to Patna for higher studies. He is a lawyer by education. Lalu Prasad Yadav has completed his Bachelor's and Law degree from Patna University.

Lalu Prasad Yadav: Wife and Children

Lalu Prasad Yadav married Rabri Devi on 1 June 1973. The couple gave birth to nine children- seven daughters and two sons. His daughters are Misha Bharti, Rohini Acharya Yadav, Chanda Yadav, Ragini Yadav, Dhannu (Anushka Rao), Hema Yadav and Raj Lakshmi Yadav. His sons are Tej Pratap Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav.

Lalu Prasad Yadav: Career

Yadav's took his first step towards politics when he was in college.

Student Politics

In 1970, he became the President of the Patna University Students' Union (PUSU).

Youngest Member of Lok Sabha for Janata Party

At the age of just 29, he became one of the youngest members of the Lok Sabha when he was elected to the 9th Lok Sabha on a Janata Party ticket. In 1980, he ran for the Bihar State Assembly elections and won, defeating the INC (Indian National Congress) candidate. In 1985, he was re-elected to the seat.

Leader of Yadav and lower castes

He had positioned himself as the leader of the lower castes and other minorities. With the support of lower Hindu castes and Muslim minorities, Yadav became a popular leader in Bihar.

Lalu Prasad Yadav as Chief Minister of Bihar

Lalu Prasad held the position of Chief Minister of Bihar twice, first from 10 March 1990 to 3 April 1995 for a term of five years. He was elected Bihar's CM the second time from 4 April 1995 to 25 July 1997 for a tenure of three years.

Formation of RJD

Beginning in 1996. a leadership revolt started in Janata Dal over Fodder Scam. Yadav's wife, Rabri Devi, took over as chief minister after he was forced to step down in July 1997. Yadav then broke ties with Janta Dal and formed his own party Rashtriya Janata dal (RJD), becoming the party's president. In 1998, he was re-elected to the Lok Sabha.

Rabri Devi as Chief Minister of Bihar

In 2002, Lalu was elected to Rajya Sabha and served till 2004. Meanwhile, his wife Rabri Devi became Chief Minister of Bihar from RJD till 2005.

Lalu Prasad Yadav as Union Minister

Yadav was named Union Minister of Railways in the United Progressive Alliance administration in 2004 after winning reelection to the Lok Sabha. He held that position till 2009.

When Yadav was appointed as the Railway Minister, Indian Railways was suffering from losses. During his tenure as Railway Minister, he looked for other revenue sources for the railways and left passenger fares untouched. He replaced plastic cups for serving tea at railway stations with Kulhars to generate employment in rural areas.

His strategies soon showed a profit worth crores, and Lalu's strategy attracted business schools worldwide who wanted to convert his experiments on the entity into case studies for business graduates.

The downfall of Lalu Prasad Yadav and RJD

In 2005, Bihar Assembly Elections were held twice and RJD managed to win only 54 seats, less than the JD(U)-BJP alliance. Consequently, Nitish Kumar came to power.

In the 2009 elections, RJD got only 4 out of 44 seats it was competing from. In 2010, RJD could only win 22 seats in the Bihar assembly elections.

While Lalu Prasad Yadav tried to rejuvenate the party, his conviction in the fodder scam came as a major blow.

RJD registered a major comeback in the 2015 Bihar Legislative Assembly Election. RJD and JD(U) had the absolute majority to form the government in the state but the alliance did not last long. Nitish Kumar broke the alliance and joined hands with BJP.

Corruption cases and conviction of Lalu Prasad Yadav

Lalu Prasad Yadav was convicted in the first Fodder Scam case of 1996. The scam involved the theft of 9.5 billion rupees intended for the purchase of cattle fodder in Bihar. Yadav was accused of fraudulently withdrawing Rs. 47 lakh from the treasuries in the districts of Banka and Bhagalpur.

Yadav was convicted for the second fodder scam in 2017. The scam involved approximately Rs 89 lakh in fraudulent withdrawals from the Deoghar Treasury between 1991 and 1994, while Yadav was the chief minister and in charge of the finance division. He was imposed a fine of Rs. 10 lakh fine.

The third Fodder Scam case of 2018 is withdrawal of funds worth Rs 37.62 crore from the Chaibasa (West Singhbhum) treasury of Jharkhand. Lalu Yadav and Jagannath Mishra were sentenced to 5 years of imprisonment and were imposed a fine of Rs 10 lakhs.

He was convicted in the fourth Fodder Scam case of 1996 by the Special CBI court for the withdrawal of Rs. 3.13 crore from the Dumka district treasury. He was sentenced to two seven years of jail term under the IPC and Prevention of Corruption Acts.

He has been sentenced recently in the fifth Fodder Scam case in 2022 by the Special CBI court for the illegal withdrawal of Rs. 139.35 crores from the Doranda treasury. He has been sentenced to five years imprisonment and fined Rs. 60 lacs.