Sharad Yadav | |
|---|---|
 Yadav in 2013 | |
| Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution | |
| In office 1 July 2002 – 22 May 2004 | |
| Prime Minister | Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
| Preceded by | Shanta Kumar |
| Succeeded by | Sharad Pawar |
| Minister of Labour and Employment | |
| In office 1 September 2001 – 1 July 2002 | |
| Prime Minister | Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
| Preceded by | Satyanarayan Jatiya |
| Succeeded by | Sahib Singh Verma |
| Minister of Civil Aviation | |
| In office 13 October 1999 – 1 September 2001 | |
| Prime Minister | Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
| Preceded by | Ananth Kumar |
| Succeeded by | Shahnawaz Hussain |
| Minister of Textiles | |
| In office 6 December 1989 – 10 November 1990 | |
| Prime Minister | Vishwanath Pratap Singh |
| Preceded by | Ram Niwas Mirdha |
| Succeeded by | Hukmdev Narayan Yadav |
| Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha | |
| In office 8 July 2016 – 4 December 2017 | |
| Succeeded by | Faiyaz Ahmad |
| Constituency | Bihar |
| In office 13 June 2014 – 7 July 2016 | |
| Constituency | Bihar |
| In office 8 July 2004 – 16 May 2009 | |
| Succeeded by | George Fernandes |
| Constituency | Bihar |
| In office 5 July 1986 – 28 November 1989 | |
| Constituency | Uttar Pradesh |
| Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha | |
| In office 2009–2014 | |
| Preceded by | Pappu Yadav |
| Succeeded by | Pappu Yadav |
| Constituency | Madhepura |
| In office 1999–2004 | |
| Preceded by | Lalu Prasad Yadav |
| Succeeded by | Lalu Prasad Yadav |
| Constituency | Madhepura |
| In office 1991–1998 | |
| Preceded by | Ramendra Kumar Yadav |
| Succeeded by | Lalu Prasad Yadav |
| Constituency | Madhepura |
| In office 1989–1991 | |
| Preceded by | Saleem Iqbal Shervani |
| Succeeded by | Swami Chinmayanand |
| Constituency | Badaun |
| In office 1974–1980 | |
| Preceded by | Seth Govind Das |
| Succeeded by | Munder Sharma |
| Constituency | Jabalpur |
| 2nd President ofJanata Dal | |
| In office 1997–1999 | |
| Preceded by | V. P. Singh |
| Succeeded by | position abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1947-07-01)1 July 1947 Babai, Central Provinces and Berar, British India |
| Died | 12 January 2023(2023-01-12) (aged 75) Gurugram, Haryana, India |
| Political party | Loktantrik Janata Dal |
| Other political affiliations |
|
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupation | Politician |
Sharad Yadav (1 July 1947 – 12 January 2023) was an Indian politician from theLoktantrik Janata Dal(LJD) party. He was elected to theLok Sabha seven times[1] and to theRajya Sabha four times forJanata Dal (United).[2] He was the first national president of JD(U), serving from its formation in 2003 until 2016.[3] He was disqualified from the Rajya Sabha in 2017 and removed from party leadership positions for engaging in anti-party activities.[4][5]
Yadav was born on 1 July 1947 to Nand Kishore Yadav and Sumitra Yadav in Babai village inHoshangabad district ofMadhya Pradesh.[1] He obtained his Bachelor of Science degree fromRobertson College Jabalpur which branched intoGovernment Science College, Jabalpur.[6] He also earned aBachelor of Engineering degree in Electrical Engineering fromJabalpur Engineering College, where he was a gold medalist.[7]
Yadav's involvement with politics started in 1970 when he became the president of Jabalpur University Student Association.[8] He was active in theBihar Student Movement and was greatly influenced by the socialist ideas ofJayaprakash Narayan andRam Manohar Lohia.[7] He was jailed by the Jabalpur police in 1972 and 1975 due to his involvement with the student movement.[8][7]
Yadav was elected to the Parliament of India, theLok Sabha, seven times[1] across constituencies in three different states – four times fromMadhepura[9] in Bihar, twice fromJabalpur[8] in Madhya Pradesh and once fromBadaun in Uttar Pradesh, which is a rare feat.[10]
Yadav was elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time at the age of 27 fromJabalpur in 1974 in a by-poll after the death of incumbentSeth Govind Das.[8][11] At a time when theJP Movement was at its peak, he won the by-poll forBharatiya Lok Dal while still in jail.[8] In the1977 general election, he was re-elected from the same constituency under the newly formedJanata Party.[7] He became the President of Yuva Lok Dal in 1978.[12] When the Janata Party split in 1979, he sided withCharan Singh's faction.[13]
When Rajiv Gandhi first entered the Lok Sabha by winning a by-poll from Amethi in 1981, Sharad Yadav was the losing candidate for Lok Dal.[14] He contested the1984 general election as a Lok Dal candidate from Badaun, which he lost againstSaleem Iqbal Shervani of Congress.[15] He was elected as a Member of Parliament fromRajya Sabha for the first time in 1986.[16][17]
Yadav won the Badaun seat in the1989 general election under theJanata Dal party, withINC'sRam Naresh Yadav being the runner-up.[18] In an election dominated by theBofors scandal, INC failed to form the government despite being the single largest party.[19] Yadav emerged as one of the major players of the left-wing opposition coalition supportingV. P. Singh as the prime ministerial candidate, with external support fromBJP.[19] He obtained his first Central government cabinet position asMinister of Textiles in theV. P. Singh ministry[19][20] He was one of the most powerful members of the cabinet and exerted pressure on V. P. Singh to implement theMandal Commission report onreservations forOBCs in 1990, which led towidespread protests and broughtCaste politics to the forefront.[19]
He won Madhepura seat for Janata Dal in the1991 general election, with theJharkhand Party's Anand Mohan finishing in second place.[21] He retained the seat in1996 general election defeating theSamata Party's Anand Mandal.[21] In the1998 general election following the downfall of theI. K. Gujral government, he lost the Madhepura seat toLalu Prasad Yadav, who had split from Janata Dal to formRashtriya Janata Dal.[21][22]
He contested the1999 general election from Madhepura against Lalu Prasad again and won this time.[21] Lalu's popularity had declined due to his implication with theFodder Scam and the contest was eagerly watched for what its outcome would say of the electoral preferences of Yadav community.[19] The election was won by the BJP ledNational Democratic Alliance. The Janata Dal faction led byJ H Patel lent support for BJP, a move which was opposed byH. D. Deve Gowda, who wanted Janata Dal to be equidistant from both BJP and Congress.[23] Deve Gowda split from Janata Dal to formJanata Dal (Secular); the remainder of the party led by Sharad Yadav would come to be called as Janata Dal (United).[24][23] Yadav's faction merged withLok Shakti andSamata Party to officially becomeJanata Dal (United) in 2003.[23] Yadav became the first president of JDU and remained in the position till 2016.[3]
In theVajpayee led government, Yadav got a cabinet seat asMinister of Civil Aviation,[25] a position which be held from 13 October 1999 – 1 September 2001.[1] His performance as Aviation minister was criticised for failure to improve the aviation sector of India[26] and was once quoted saying "In this country where crores of people have no other mode of transport but walking, concern for aviation is very elitist."[27] His portfolio was changed from Aviation to theMinistry of Labour and Employment in the September 2001 cabinet reshuffle.[28] In the July 2002 cabinet reshuffle, he was shifted to theMinistry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.[29]
In the2004 general election, he contested the Madhepura seat in Bihar against Lalu Prasad. Lalu contested this election from two seats, Madhepura andChhapra, and won both.[30] Lalu Prasad later gave up the Madhepura seat[31] and the ensuing bypoll to fill the vacancy was won by RJD'sPappu Yadav.[32] In the2009 general election, Sharad Yadav won the Madhepura seat by a comfortable margin of 175,000 votes against RJD's Ravindra Charan Yadav.[21] He failed to retain the seat in the2014 general election and lost to RJD's Pappu Yadav.[33][21] Having been removed from JDU in 2017 due to anti-party activities,[5] he contested in the2019 general election from Madhepura with RJD ticket. He lost to JDU's Dinesh Yadav.[34]
Sharad Yadav won the Madhepura Lok Sabha seat a total of four times; in 1991, 1996,[35] 1999 and 2009.[33] However he was also defeated just as many times from there - twice by Lalu Prasad Yadav in 1998 and 2004, by Pappu Yadav in 2014,[33] and by Dinesh Yadav in 2019.[34]
In 2017, he gave a speech comparing votes to daughter's honour and suggesting to prefer the former.[36] He was one of the accused in thehawala scandal; however, the charges were dismissed by the Supreme Court of India.[37]
Yadav founded theLoktantrik Janata Dal (LJD) in May 2018,[38][39][40] after disassociating himself from theNitish Kumar-ledJanata Dal (United) in the wake of its alliance with theBharatiya Janata Party in Bihar.[41][42][43]
A merger withBahujan Mukti Party (founded on 6 December 2012) was proposed but was called off.[44]
He married Rekha on 15 February 1989, with whom he has a son and a daughter.[45] His daughter Subhashini Raja Rao joinedIndian National Congress just before2020 Bihar Legislative Assembly election and announced her plans to contest from Bihariganj seat.[46] She contested the seat as a candidate of RJD and lost.[47] Sharad Yadav's son Shantanu Bundela is a post graduate fromUniversity of London.[48]
Yadav died on 12 January 2023 inGurgaon, aged 75.[49][50][51] Prime MinisterNarendra Modi condoled the death of Yadav and said that he did works for the welfare of common people.[52] Bihar Chief ministerNitish Kumar expressed condolences over the death and announced one day of state mourning.[9] He was cremated with full state honours on 14 January in his ancestral village of Ankhmau in Madhya Pradesh'sHoshangabad district.[10]
| Duration | Position held | Refs. |
|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Elected to5th Lok Sabha in bye-election fromJabalpur constituency. | [1] |
| 1977 | Re-elected to6th Lok Sabha (2nd term) from Jabalpur constituency and President, Yuva Janata Dal | [1] |
| 1978 | President, Lok Dal President, Yuva Lok Dal | [12][1] |
| 5 July 1986 – 28 November 1989 | Elected to Rajya Sabha | [16][2] |
| 6 December 1989 – 10 November 1990 | Elected to9th Lok Sabha (3rd term) fromBadaun constituency. | [1][2] |
| 1989–1997 | General-Secretary, Janata Dal; chairman, Janata Dal Parliamentary Board | [1] |
| December 1989 – November 1990 | Union Cabinet Minister, Textiles and Food Processing Industries inV. P. Singh ministry | [53][54] |
| 1991–1996 | Re-elected to10th Lok Sabha (4th term) fromMadhepura constituency and Member, Public Accounts Committee | [1] |
| 1996–1997 | Re-elected to11th Lok Sabha (5th term) from Madhepura constituency and chairman, Finance Committee | [1] |
| 1997–1999 | President, Janata Dal | [55] |
| 1999–2004 | Re-elected to13th Lok Sabha (6th term) from Madhepura constituency | [1] |
| 13 October 1999 – 31 August 2001 | Union Cabinet Minister, Civil Aviation | [1][25] |
| 1 September 2001 – 30 June 2002 | Union Cabinet Minister, Labour | [1] |
| 1 July 2002 – 15 May 2004 | Union Cabinet Minister, Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution | [1] |
| 8 July 2004 – 16 May 2009 | Re-elected to Rajya Sabha (2nd term) | [2][1] |
| June 2006 – May 2009 | Member, Committee on Ethics | [56] |
| 2009–2014 | Re-elected to15th Lok Sabha (7th term) from Madhepura constituency | [57] |
| 31 August 2009 – 2010 | Chairman, Committee on Urban Development | [58] |
| March 2011 – October 2013 | Member,JPC to examine matter relating to Allocation and pricing of Telecom Licences and Spectrum | [59] |
| 13 June 2014 – 7 July 2016 | Re-elected to Rajya Sabha (3rd term) | [60][2] |
| October 2014 – July 2016 | Member, JPC on Maintenance of Heritage Character and Development of Parliament House Complex | [61] |
| December 2014 – July 2016 | Chairman, Committee on Provision of Computer to Members of Rajya Sabha | [62] |
| April 2015 – July 2016 | Member, JPC on Security in Parliament House Complex | [63] |
| May 2015 – July 2016 | Member, Joint Committee on the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Second Amendment) Bill, 2015 | [64][65] |
| 8 July 2016 – 4 December 2017 | Re-elected to Rajya Sabha (fourth term) | [66][67][2] |
| July 2016 – September 2017 | Chairman, Committee on Industry | [68] |
| November – December 2017 | Member, Joint Committee on Offices of Profit Member, Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas | [69] |
| April – July 2017 | Member, Select Committee of Rajya Sabha on the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-third Amendment) Bill, 2017 | [70] |
{{cite book}}:|website= ignored (help)| Lok Sabha | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forJabalpur 1974–1980 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forBadaun 1989–1991 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forMadhepura 1991–1998 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forMadhepura 1999–2004 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forMadhepura 2009–2014 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forMadhepura 2009–2014 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Minister of Civil Aviation 13 October 1999 – 31 August 2001 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Labour and Employment 1 September 2001 – 1 July 2002 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution 1 July 2002 – 22 May 2004 | Succeeded by |
