Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD- National People's Party)

The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD- "National People's Party") is a political party in India, based in the state of Bihar. The party was founded in 1997 by Laloo Prasad Yadav. The party came about as a result of Lalu Prasad Yadav, ex-president of Janata Dal, being evicted by Sharad Yadav,the then president, on corruption charges ($250 million) over the farm support funds. The mass base of the party has traditionally been Yadavs and Muslims, two large and relatively politically active segments of Bihar's population.In 2008, RJD received the

status of recognized national level party following its performance in north-eastern states.RJD was derocognised as a national party on 30 July 2010

RJD Officer Bihar Unite

1. National President- Lalu Prasad Yadav, Ex-Chief Minister Of Bihar, Ex-Railway Minister of India.
2. Leader of the Opposition, Bihar Vidhan Sabha - Md.Abdul Bari Siddqui
3. Leader Of the Opposition, Bihar Vidhan Parishad - Prof. Ghulam Gaus
4. Bihar State President - Dr.Ramchandra Purve
5. Jharkhand State President - Girinath Singh
6. General Secretary - Shiv Nath Yadav Alias Baban Yadav
7. National Secretary - Ramkripal Yadav
8. National Spokes Person- Md. Iliyas Hussain
9. Youth General Secretary Delhi Pradesh - Mayank Sinha

RJD Member Of Parliament

1. Lalu Prasad Yadav Member Of Loksabha
2. Raghuvansh Prasad Singh Member Of Loksabha
3. Jagdanand Singh Member Of Loksabha
4. Uma Shankar Singh Member Of Loksabha
5. Ram Kripal Yadav, Member Of Rajyasabha
6. Rajniti Prasad, Member of Rajyasabha
7. Prem Chand Gupta, Member Of Rajyasabha
8. Prof. Zabir Hussain, Member Of Rajyasabha

Ideological grounding

For a long time in Bihar, political activity was a privilege and the prerogative of the landed and upper castes particularly Bhumihars, Brahminsand Rajputs. This was more so in the Bhojpuri belt from which Lalu Yadav hails. The landed upper castes also dominated the civil and police administration. Despite reservations in government service, many OBC and SC people could not avail of it because of the poor state of basic primary and secondary eeducation in Bihar. The powerful castes mainly supported the Congress Party in rural areas and the Jan Sangh in urban areas. Coming from an impoverished family of cattle herders and small farmers of the backward and aggressive Yadav caste, Lalu wanted to gain in political influence for his community and had a sense of hatred towards the Hathwa Raj , hereditary Bhumihar landed magnates of Gopalaganj and Siwan. He and others of his ilk, like Sharad Yadav, Nitish Kumar and Ram Vilas Paswan lashed on to the opportunity provided by JP Narayan's anti-emergency movement. The emergency was a period of Congress dictatorship, which indirectly implied upper-caste dictatorship, in Bihar, In the 1977 State and National elections, backward caste candidates triumphed in most constituencies.

Electoral Performance

In the late 1980s, due to the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, Muslims throughout North India were feeling insecure. Muslims constituted about 20 % of Bihar's population. They were traditionally politically active but were backward in educationas well as economically. Thus Lalu Yadav sought an alliance with sections of the community.

In the March 1998 national elections, RJD won 17 Lok Sabha seats from Bihar but failed to make significant headway in any other state. Later that year, the party formed an alliance with Mulayam Singh Yadav's Samajwadi Party as an anti-BJP secular coalition but the coalition failed in garnering any widespread support.

In the October 1999 elections, RJD fought the election in alliance with Congress but lost 10 Lok Sabha seats including the seat of Lalu Prasad Yadav. In the 2000 state elections, however, it performed unexpectedly well - winning a majority of the seats in the state assembly. Continuing its upswing in electoral fortunes, the party won 21 Lok Sabha seats in the 2004 elections that it fought in alliance with Congress. The pendulum swung back, however, next year and the party had to relinquish power in the 2005 state elections after winning only 75 seats. In the state elections held later that year - as a result of no party being able to form a government - RJD continued its downward slide losing 21 seats.

In the general election of April–May 2009, the RJD had a disastrous result, dropping down to just 4 seats, all of them in Bihar.

Rule

It held power in the Indian state of Bihar, under the Chief Ministers Laloo Yadav and then Rabri Devi, Laloo's wife, but after the elections in February 2005, the state of Bihar came under President's Rule through Governor of Bihar Sardar Buta Singh. Since then, a new election has brought the NDA to power in the state. The RJD is no longer a member of India's governing coalition led by theCongress Party. The party was in alliance with Ram Vilas Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party and Mulayam Singh Yadav's Samajwadi Party forming what the media has dubbed the "Fourth Front". However, in 2010 Assembly election, the RJD did not continue their alliance with Samajwadi Party.