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RJD Bihar election 2025

Rashtriya Janata Dal

Founded in:1997
Founders/first leaders:Lalu Prasad Yadav
Main leaders:Lalu Prasad Yadav, Tejashwi Yadav, Rabri Devi, Jagada Nand Singh, Abdul Bari Siddiqui, Mangani Lal Mandal, Manoj Jha
Alliance:INDIA bloc
Description:Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) was founded on July 5 , 1997, in Delhi under the leadership of Lalu Prasad Yadav. When Lalu Yadav had to resign from the post of chief minister of Bihar due to allegations in the fodder scam, he wanted to remain the president of the then Janata Dal. As the party did not agree, Lalu Yadav separated from the Janata Dal and formed a new party. At the time of formation of the RJD, many senior leaders, including 17 Lok Sabha members and eight from the Rajya Sabha, were with him. Lalu Yadav was elected the national president of the party and he remains on this post. The main plank for the RJD has been the politics of social justice, interests of backward classes, Dalits and Muslim communities. The party gave prominence to ideas of socialism and equality. Through its election symbol, the lantern, it claimed to bring light to the house of the poor. RJD spent a long time in power in Bihar politics after 1997. After Lalu Yadav, his wife Rabri Devi led the state as CM. In the 2004 Lok Sabha election, the RJD won 22 of the 40 seats in Bihar, and Lalu Prasad Yadav became India's railway minister. In the November 2005 state election, Bihar slipped out of his grasp and went to the NDA, with JDU's Nitish Kumar as CM. In the 2015 Bihar assembly election, the RJD returned as the largest party and won in a Mahagathbandhan or 'grand alliance' with the JDU and Congress against the BJP. Tejashwi Yadav became deputy CM. He later became the Leader of Opposition as Nitish switched sides. In the 2024 Lok Sabha election, the RJD got four seats.