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On March 10, 1990, Mr. Lalu took oath because the twenty fifth Chief Minister of Bihar — the primary to be sworn in outdoors the Raj Bhavan in Patna. Though solely 42 on the time, he had been in politics for greater than a decade, successful 4 main elections: two phrases in Parliament (1977 and 1989) and two within the Bihar Legislative Assembly (1980 and 1985).
At the sprawling Gandhi Maidan in Patna, a hopeful crowd regarded on as Mr. Lalu took the oath of workplace. In the preliminary months of his regime, the nation watched with fascination as Mr. Lalu carried out shock inspections at colleges and workplaces, publicly rebuked bureaucrats, shared meals with the poor, directed site visitors with a megaphone in hand, and held Cabinet conferences like a chaupal (village conferences held in a courtyard). He constructed for himself a constituency of the backward lessons that had been inching in direction of energy however remained far too fragmented to grab it.
To many, he was a political Robin Hood, robbing the Swarna (higher castes) of their voice and lending it to the poor and marginalised. Derecognising Maithili as an official language was one such step as he considered it as a “Sanskritised Brahminical tongue”, regardless that it was the lingua franca of north Bihar. Mr. Lalu upended the prevailing political order, ostensibly to rebuild it alongside extra egalitarian traces. And he did. Inequality, nevertheless, is endemic, a seemingly inescapable function of human life, and thus, a brand new elite took the place of the previous.
Bihar is now not the State that Mr. Lalu as soon as dominated, neither is he the identical particular person, who sat within the Chief Minister’s chair. Mr. Lalu follows a routine of 14 drugs a day and shuttles between hospital and residential. His well being stays precarious since present process a kidney transplant in December 2022. The State, in the meantime, finds itself caught in a dichotomy of hyperpolitical consciousness and years of financial neglect. Mr. Lalu might now not be on the helm, however his shadow continues to loom over the State’s political firmament.
File picture of Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD) president Lalu Prasad Yadav together with his son Tej Pratap. | Photo Credit: PTI
It has been 20 years since Mr. Lalu’s rule, instantly and thru his spouse, Rabri Devi, led to November 2005. An total technology of voters has not seen both of them as Chief Minister, and but tales of their alleged misrule endure. The State has witnessed 4 Assembly elections since then, however the cost in opposition to the RJD, of being the propagators of “jungle raj”, stays unchanged.
On January 18, 2025, anticipating Mr. Lalu’s absence, his youthful son, Tejashwi Yadav, was handed the baton of management. While Mr. Lalu stays the nationwide president of the RJD, Mr. Tejashwi has been entrusted with powers equal to that of the celebration chief. This transfer merely formalised an association that had already been in place. Mr. Tejashwi was already functioning because the de facto president of the celebration.
How the time period ‘jungle raj’ originated
There are many accounts of how the time period “jungle raj” originated. In one model that Mr. Lalu himself recounts in his autobiography Gopalganj to Raisina-My Political Journey, co-written with journalist Nalin Verma, he traces the phrase again to his first time period in workplace when he went round “cleaning the vestiges of exploitation”. One such image of the previous order was the verdant Patna Golf Course, unfold over practically 200 acres alongside the leafy Bailey Road. The course was beneath the management of the Gymkhana Club, established in 1916 by the British, and was accessible to a restricted variety of “city elite”. However, land information confirmed that the land belonged to the State authorities. Mr. Lalu initiated a transfer for the federal government to take over the Golf Club and convert it right into a safari park for the lions and tigers confined within the adjoining Patna Zoo. “I believed if the poor and hard-working folks had no entry to the Golf Club, why ought to the restricted variety of members of the elite have it? It was higher to hyperlink it to the zoo in order that at the least the animals may roam round freely.” There was a right away backlash. “They blasted me for resorting to dictatorship, and so they stated I had introduced in jungle raj in Bihar.” The Golf Club stays as Mr. Lalu didn’t go forward with the choice.
The different, and maybe the extra fashionable, model of the story is that the time period was first utilized by the Patna High Court in August 1997.
In the 1995 Assembly election, the Janata Dal gained 164 seats within the 324-member Bihar Assembly, securing a majority of its personal. The voters had united beneath the slogan “Vote Lalu ka, raj humara” (Vote for Lalu, and the rule might be ours). This marked the primary time any incumbent Chief Minister had secured a second consecutive time period for the reason that interminable tenure of Shri Krishna Sinha, who died in workplace in January 1961. Between Mr. Sinha and Mr. Lalu, Bihar noticed 23 Chief Ministers and 5 spells of President’s Rule. None of these Chief Ministers accomplished a full time period, with their tenures starting from simply 4 days to three-and-a-half years.
In a fragmented Janata Dal, Mr. Lalu outstripped all different leaders. Thus, his elevation on January 29, 1996, to the submit of nationwide president of the Janata Dal didn’t take anybody unexpectedly. However, what was not so apparent was the start of his downfall, which practically coincided together with his coronation. While he exulted in his new function, again dwelling in Patna, investigations into allegations of extra fund withdrawals from varied branches of the federal government’s Animal Husbandry Department had begun. In June 1997, Bihar Governor A.R. Kidwai granted permission to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to cost the Chief Minister. The knives had been out for him within the Janata Dal and the refrain searching for his resignation as nationwide president grew louder.
Instead of stepping down, Mr. Lalu break up the celebration. The election for the submit of celebration president was due in July and Sharad Yadav determined to contest in opposition to him. Mr. Lalu tried to persuade Mr. Sharad Yadav to face down, even providing to resign from the Chief Minister’s submit if he was allowed to retain the submit of celebration president. That was to not be. Consequently, Mr. Lalu walked out with 18 of the celebration’s 22 Lok Sabha members and 6 Rajya Sabha members to type his personal celebration, the RJD. However, he was ultimately compelled to resign as Chief Minister, and he put his spouse, Rabri Devi, in his place. Just a couple of days into Ms. Rabri’s tenure, the Patna High Court, whereas listening to a contempt petition concerning poor civic situations within the State capital, noticed that there was no State authorities well worth the title and “jungle raj” prevailed in Bihar.
Mr. Lalu Prasad’s initiation into politics was rooted in opposition to the dynastic rule of the Congress, and but he went on to determine a dynasty of his personal. He has 9 youngsters — seven daughters and two sons. For the household, politics has typically been private. Mr. Lalu was in jail when his first baby — his eldest daughter — was born on May 22, 1975. He was booked beneath the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA), a infamous laws aimed toward suppressing dissent. It was handed in Parliament in 1971 and repealed in 1977. On the suggestion of Jayaprakash Narayan, Mr. Lalu named his daughter Misa, after the very legislation beneath which he was imprisoned.
The sons
Barring a couple of slips, the household has not had any public showdown over management of the celebration, although underlying tensions stay. Mr. Tejashwi Yadav was not even six months previous when his father turned Chief Minister. The transition from being often known as Mr. Lalu Prasad’s son to establishing his personal political identification took time. Politics was not his first profession alternative. He began as a cricketer after dropping out of Class 10. A middle-order batsman with a great cowl drive, Mr. Tejashwi was a part of Delhi’s Under-19 cricket staff across the similar time as Virat Kohli. He additionally performed one season for Jharkhand within the Ranji Trophy. Later, he was picked by the Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) within the Indian Premier League, the place he remained on the reserve bench for 4 seasons, from 2008 to 2012.
Mr. Lalu selected Mr. Tejashwi over his elder brother, the maverick Tej Pratap Yadav, as his political inheritor. Mr. Tejashwi made his first public tackle through the 2010 Assembly election, when he accompanied his father on the marketing campaign path. It was lastly in 2012 that he gave up cricket and determined to pay attention totally on politics.
When Mr. Lalu was arrested in September 2013, Mr. Tejashwi was already on the helm of celebration affairs. However, the RJD was not but able to anoint him as inheritor. Ram Kripal Yadav, a key aide of Mr. Lalu, was amongst these deeply sad with Mr. Tejashwi’s elevation. “Tejashwi may be very concerned in celebration affairs. But he might be made a number one face of the celebration solely in the long run,” he instructed reporters on the time, dismissing Mr. Tejashwi’s elevation outright. A yr later, Mr. Ram Kripal Yadav converted to the BJP after Mr. Lalu selected his daughter Ms. Misa Bharti over him because the candidate for the Patliputra Lok Sabha seat.
In 2014, Mr. Tejashwi was not but 25 and couldn’t contest the Lok Sabha election. Staying out of the electoral fray proved to be a blessing in disguise. The RJD suffered a rout, successful solely 4 of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar. Ms. Rabri Devi misplaced from Saran and Ms. Misa from Patliputra. He contested his first election in 2015 from the Raghopur Assembly constituency, defeating the BJP’s Satish Kumar, who had gained in opposition to his mom in 2010. With the RJD successful 81 seats, 11 greater than the JD(U) within the Assembly election, it marked a convincing victory for Mr. Lalu, who had spent years within the political wilderness. Soon after, Mr. Tejashwi was promoted to the place of Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar.
Mr. Lalu’s older son, Mr. Tej Pratap Yadav, has typically hit the headlines for the incorrect causes. From movies of him slapping and pushing celebration staff on stage or brazenly humiliating senior leaders who’ve labored together with his father, his behaviour has typically drawn criticism. Both the household and the celebration had largely tolerated him and ignored his antics. During his two stints as Deputy Chief Minister, Mr. Tejashwi was typically seen touching his elder brother’s toes at public conferences, a reassuring gesture meant to point that the household hierarchy remained intact.
The endurance of the Yadav clan lastly ran out in May 2025 after a submit appeared on Mr. Tej Pratap’s Facebook account displaying him with a girl. The caption recommended that that they had been in a relationship for 12 years. This got here whilst his divorce proceedings with Aishwarya Rai, granddaughter of former Bihar Chief Minister Daroga Prasad Rai, had been nonetheless ongoing. Mr. Lalu introduced his expulsion from the celebration for six years.
“Ignoring ethical values in private life weakens our collective battle for social justice. The actions, public conduct, and irresponsible behaviour of the eldest son are usually not in accordance with our household values and traditions,” he stated whereas making the announcement.
The 2020 Bihar Assembly election was the primary time that Mr. Tejashwi led the marketing campaign independently, although Mr. Lalu made vital selections, selecting candidates and negotiating with allies. Mr. Tejashwi was the face of the celebration. He ran a blistering marketing campaign, sprinting from one election rally to the following. He addressed 247 rallies and 4 roadshows, the very best by any chief throughout that election. The celebration rallied behind him with the slogan “Tejashwi tai hai!” (Tejashwi is confirmed). Even Mr. Lalu’s images had been faraway from the marketing campaign posters to distance the celebration from the criticism of “jungle raj”, the central theme of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s counter-campaign. These modifications, nevertheless, didn’t blunt the BJP’s marketing campaign. Prime Minister Narendra Modi referred to Mr. Tejashwi because the “jungle raj ka yuvraj” (the crown prince of jungle raj) at rallies he addressed within the State. The RJD management selected to not reply and have interaction with the narrative. As the State heads into polls, the RJD will as soon as once more need to confront the ghosts of “jungle raj” afresh.
A comparatively younger celebration, the RJD has had three stints in authorities — one full time period between 2000 and 2005, when with 124 seats, it was the main companion within the authorities and Ms. Rabri Devi was the Chief Minister, and two quick stints in alliance with the JD(U) (November 2015-July 2017 and August 2022-January 2024). Barring the 2010 blip, when it gained simply 22 seats within the Assembly, the RJD has largely managed to carry its floor. In the final two Assembly elections, the RJD emerged as the only largest celebration, successful 81 seats in 2015 and 75 in 2020. On each events, it got here inside placing distance of victory however stumbled earlier than the ending line. This could be attributed to the RJD’s identification of primarily being a Muslim-Yadav celebration, a notion partially of Mr. Lalu’s personal making and partially the results of the circumstances.
Mr. Lalu Prasad’s rise to energy coincided with the Mandal-Mandir wave. The Muslim minority, disillusioned with the Narasimha Rao authorities’s failure to avoid wasting the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, discovered itself adrift. In Bihar, they gravitated in direction of Mr. Lalu, particularly after he stalled BJP president LK. Advani’s rath yatra. The Janata Dal, which already drew assist from the Other Backward Classes — broadly categorised as Mandal communities — turned a formidable power with the addition of the minority assist.
Mr. Lalu’s politics is summed up by a slogan attributed to him — “Bhurabal hatao”, with “Bhurabal” being a shorthand for Bhumihars, Rajputs, Brahmins, and Lalas (Kayasthas). In his autobiography, Mr. Lalu rejects the slogan, claiming it to be a figment of a reporter’s creativeness.
“One Day I woke as much as a report in a Hindi newspaper which quoted me as saying ‘Bhurabal saaf karo’ … It added that I had systematically labored to demolish them financially, socially and politically. I used to be shocked on the damning report… Though I beloved lacing my speeches with earthy phrases, I had no contempt for any caste in even the remotest nook of my coronary heart and there was no query of my having ever given a clarion name to wipe out the higher castes in Bihar. I vehemently rejected the motivated information report.”
In his first time period, Kurmi and Koeri voters had begun distancing themselves from Mr. Lalu, in response to the Yadav domination in his authorities. The ultimate rupture got here in February 1994 within the type of the Kurmi Chetna Rally. Resentment in opposition to Mr. Lalu’s regime overflowed at Patna’s Gandhi maidan. Mr. Nitish Kumar’s presence on stage added to the revolt. In April 1994, Mr. Nitish walked out of the Janata Dal, taking the Kurmi-Koeri vote financial institution with him.
Mr. Lalu’s identification as a Muslim-Yadav chief turned extra pronounced after the formation of the RJD. “In a regional outfit, it’s only pure that the celebration is recognized by the chief’s personal caste,” Rahul Verma, a fellow on the Centre for Policy Research, explains. He argues that the rise of the BJP created additional situations for the mobilisation of Yadavs and Muslims.
“BJP’s rise additional fragmented Bihar’s polity. In a multi-cornered competitors, it’s important to have a captive vote financial institution for any celebration to be within the race. And it was apparent that Lalu will need to have felt {that a} Muslim-Yadav consolidation provides him a captive vote of 25%,” Professor Verma says. While this technique introduced dividends within the early years, it additionally restricted the celebration’s progress past its core voter base.
“Post-2014, not solely in Bihar however in massive elements of the nation, a bipolar contest is on, with BJP being one pole. BJP has successfully pitted the non-dominant OBC in opposition to the dominant caste within the Hindi belt. Mobilisation of Muslims and Yadavs, normally, is accompanied with an equally robust counter-mobilisation,” he explains.
The RJD has been making efforts to interrupt out of this mould. In the 2020 Bihar election, Mr. Tejashwi tried to remodel the marketing campaign utilizing caste-neutral tones and centering it on “unemployment”. With hindsight, the shift in technique might seem as a calculated step, however Mr. Tejashwi’s comrades declare it developed organically. Bihar was the primary State to go to the polls amid the pandemic. On October 24, 2020, Mr. Tejashwi held a press convention in Patna flanked by celebration leaders carrying masks. Responding to a query, he declared that if the RJD got here to energy, it might ship 10 lakh jobs. The promise struck a chord with the youth, who had been already reeling beneath the financial fallout of the pandemic. From then on, it turned the anthem for the RJD.
However, Professor Verma says the RJD’s employment-centric marketing campaign alone can’t be credited for the celebration’s efficiency. “A number of months earlier than the elections, Tejashwi Yadav was fully out of the image. He ran a spirited marketing campaign, bringing financial misery and governance points to the centre stage. But we should keep in mind, the outcomes additionally mirrored the disaster throughout the NDA. Till very late, the BJP didn’t endorse Nitish Kumar because the NDA Chief Minister. Then there was the LJP elevating a flag of revolt in opposition to Nitish Kumar,” Professor Verma provides. The RJD is now making deliberate efforts to succeed in out to the non-Yadav OBC communities to create a wider coalition of backward lessons, which as soon as backed the Janata Dal. With Nitish Kumar’s affect on the wane, it’s sensing a possibility to win over Kushwahas and Kurmis.
At an election rally in Patna’s Gandhi Maidan in March 2024, Mr. Tejashwi stated, “Some folks say that we’re solely a MY celebration, a celebration of Muslims and Yadavs. But we’re additionally a BAAP celebration, the place B stands for Bahujan, A for Agda (higher caste), A for Aadhi Aabadi (ladies), and P for poor.” The celebration’s efficiency within the 2024 Lok Sabha election marked an enchancment over 2019, when it drew a clean. The RJD gained 4 seats, growing its vote share by six proportion factors. While encouraging, this result’s hardly enough for the celebration to regain the nationwide function that it loved within the Nineteen Nineties.
In the 2025 Bihar election, the RJD is eager to attract a distinction between the youthful Tejashwi Yadav and the 74-year-old incumbent Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. It can be hoping that the anti-incumbency issue will meet up with the NDA after spending 20 years in energy. The query is whether or not all these child steps that the RJD has been taking to succeed in out to a bigger vote base assist it attain the ending line, or it is going to want higher leaps to reclaim its place within the electoral panorama.
This article is a part of The Hindu’s e-book Bihar at a crossroads.
