The Janata Dal United-Rashtriya Janata Dal-Congress Mahagathbandhan is giving a tough fight to the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance in Bihar Assembly elections which trying once again to ride on the Prime Minister Narendra Modi wave.
With Chief Minister Nitish Kumar being the face of the Mahagathbandhan, he is leaving no stone unturned and is campaigning across the state.
The voting for the 243-member Bihar Assembly will be on October 12, 16, 28, November 1 and 5. The counting of votes will be on November 8.
Here are the important leaders of the Mahagathbandhan:
Nitish Kumar
Party: Janata Dal United
Date of birth: March 1, 1951
Education: BSc (Engineering)
Nitish Kumar, the current Bihar Chief Minister, has been one of the major players in state politics. Inspired by Jaiprakash Narayan, Nitish Kumar made an entry into active politics in 1974. In 1977, he contested for the first time in the assembly elections as a Janata Party member.
He first took over the top job in the state in 2000 but his term lasted for merely seven days. Later, he served as the CM from 2005 to 2010 after he led the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to victory in the Assembly elections.
He was re-elected in 2010 but resigned in May 2014 taking moral responsibility for his party's poor performance in the 2014 general elections. However, Nitish returned to office again in February 2015.
Nitish has also served as the Union Minister of State, Agriculture and Co-operation from April 1990 - November 1990. He became the Union Cabinet Minister for Railways from March 1998 - August 1999. He served as a Union Cabinet Minister for Agriculture from May 2000 - March 2001. He took over the Ministry of Railways again in the NDA government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee from 2001 to May 2004.
The four-time Chief Minister has gained popularity in the state by initiating a series of activities including building of long-delayed bridges, re-laying roads that had ceased to exist, appointing over 100,000 school teachers, ensuring that doctors worked in primary health centers and a better law & order.
He has assiduously built a vote bank of other backward castes and Mahadalits along with wooing the forwards castes.
Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh
Party: Janata Dal United
Date of birth: January 24, 1955
Education: BA (Hons)
Rajiv Ranjan Singh is the Minister for Road Construction and Science & Technology Departments in the Bihar Cabinet under Nitish Kumar. He was nominated a member of the Bihar Legislative Council in June 2014 after his defeat in the May 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
He was a member of the 15th Lok Sabha and represented the Munger constituency of Bihar. He previously represented the Begusarai constituency in the 14th Lok Sabha. He was also a Rajya Sabha member from Bihar before getting elected to Lok Sabha.
As part of the annual asset declaration system started by CM Nitish Kumar four years ago, Singh declared assets worth Rs 7 crore, becoming the richest minister in the state.
He had also participated in the JP movement, was until recently head of JDU Bihar unit. However, differences between him and Nitish came to the fore when he accused the latter of functioning like a ‘dictator’. But now he is one of the most trusted aides of Nitish Kumar and the forward caste face of JDU.
Lalu Prasad Yadav
Party: Rashtriya Janata Dal
Date of birth: June 11, 1948
Education: BA, LLB
From being one of the youngest Parliamentarians in 1977 at the age of 29, Lalu has enjoyed the stature of both chief minister as well as Union minister. Born in a non-political family and in a backward caste, Lalu started his political career as President of the Patna University Students Union in 1970.
In 1990, Lalu became the chief minister of Bihar for the first time and remained in power till 1997. In the wake of his name cropping up in the fodder scam, Lalu resigned as the chief minister and appointed his wife, Rabri Devi, as the new chief minister.
In 1997, Lalu broke away from the Janata Dal and formed his own party - Rashtriya Janata Dal. Lalu, Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, Kanti Singh along with 17 Lok Sabha MPs and eight Rajya Sabha MPs besides supporters and activists gathered in New Delhi and took the decision to form a new political party. Lalu Prasad was elected as the party president.
During UPA-I, Lalu was railway minister from 2004 to 2009 and was credited with bringing a turnaround in the fortunes of the Indian Railways. He claimed credit for turning around the Indian Railways from being mired in losses to posting a surplus of nearly Rs 90,000 crore.
He was convicted in a fodder scam case in September 2013 and is ineligible to either contest elections or hold an office. He has a loyal vote bank of Yadavs and Muslims.
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