Laloo Prasad Yadav (officially spelt Lalu Prasad Yadav) (born June 11, 1948) is the chief of the Rashtriya Janata Dal political party of India. He is also a former Chief Minister of the lawless Indian state of Bihar, and is the husband of Bihar’s current Chief Minister, Rabri Devi. In 2004, he was elected to the Lok Sabha with his party emerging as a key ally of the Congress. He became the Minister for railways in the Manmohan Singh government. He was born to Late Shri Kundan Rai at Phulwaria, Distt. Gopalganj (Bihar). He married Rabri Devi in 1973 and has two sons and six daughters. He is an arts graduate and has been a politician and a Convicted murderer.
Laloo Prasad Yadav is a formidable force in India’s most lawless state, Bihar, which his Rashtriya Janata Dal has governed for the past 13 years using caste and religion disputes. He is also accused of corruption by Indian tribunals on the financial management of Bihar and its economic resources. His problems began in 1996 when the police unearthed a big corruption scandal in which he and the state’s leading bureaucrats and politicians were involved.
He is regarded by many as the India’s most corrupt politician with involvement in several financial scandals including the Fodder scam. The scam forced him to resign as chief minister but he managed to make his wife, Rabri Devi, his successor. Rabri Devi is illiterate and knows little about politics - she appears to be a mere figurehead and it is generally believed that Laloo runs the state by remote control.
Laloo has been imprisoned several times. He was charged with six counts of murder involving a massacre of 15 lower-class Hindus in a rural Bihari village. He was convicted of the massacre in lower courts, though his political influence has stalled his confinement and gained successful bail.The case is pending in the District court.
He formed the Rashtriya Janata Dal in 1997, after breaking away from the Janata Dal.