Rashtriya Janata Dal

Formation

There was pressure on Lalu Prasad Yadav to resign from Chief minister post within and outside of Janata Dal following being chargesheeted in the Fodder scam. On 5 July 1997, Pappu Yadav, Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, Mohammad Shahabuddin, Abdul Bari Siddiqui, Kanti Singh, Mohammed Taslimuddin and Md Ali Ashraf Fatmi along with seventeen Lok Sabha MPs and eight Rajya Sabha MPs along with supporters gathered at New Delhi formed the new political party, Rashtriya Janata Dal. It was formed as breakaway of Janata Dal. Lalu Prasad was elected as the first president of RJD. It is a centre-left party.^[12]

With demands for his resignation continuing to mount, on 25 July, Lalu resigned from his position, but was able to install his wife, Rabri Devi as the new chief minister on the same day.

In the March 1998 national elections, RJD won 17 Lok Sabha seats from Bihar but failed to make significant headway in any other state. Later that year, the party formed an alliance with Mulayam Singh Yadav's Samajwadi Party as an anti-Bharatiya Janata Party secular coalition but the coalition failed in garnering any widespread support, and the party won only 7 seats in 1999 national elections.

In UPA

In the October 1999 elections, RJD fought the election in alliance with Indian National Congress but lost 10 Lok Sabha seats including the seat of Lalu Prasad Yadav.

In the 2000 Bihar election, however, it performed well, winning most of the seats in the state assembly. It gained majority by forming post poll alliance with Congress and agreeing for bifurcation of the state. Continuing its upswing in electoral fortunes, the party won 24 Lok Sabha seats in the 2004 elections that it fought in alliance with Indian National Congress. It was a part of Indian National Congress led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) from 2004 - May 2009, wherein Lalu Yadav held the position of the Minister of Railways.

In February 2005 Bihar Legislative Assembly election RJD won only 75 seats and lost the power. In the state elections held later that year – as a result of no party being able to form a government and RJD continued its downward slide winning only 54 seats.

In 2009 Indian general election, the RJD broke its alliance from UPA when seat sharing talks failed. RJD formed its alliance with Ram Vilas Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party and Mulayam Singh Yadav's Samajwadi Party what the media has dubbed the "Fourth Front". RJD performed poorly and won just four seats, all of them in Bihar. However, in 2010 Assembly election, the RJD did not continue their alliance with Samajwadi Party.

In the 2014 Indian general election, RJD came back to UPA and contested election in alliance with Indian National Congress and Nationalist Congress Party in Bihar. Out of 40 seats in Bihar, RJD will contest on 27 seats, INC on 12 and NCP on one. RJD won only four out of total forty Loksabha seats in Bihar.^{[13][14][15][16][17]}

National President

Lalu Prasad Yadav is the National President of RJD.

National Vice President

The national vice president members of the party Mangani Lal Mandal, Mohammad Ilyas Hussain, Ahmed Ashfaq Karim, Rabri Devi, Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, Shivanand Tiwary and Mehboob Ali Kaiser

National Secretary general: Abdul Bari Siddiqui.

National Treasurer: Sunil Kumar Singh^[18]

Political Affairs Committee

National Executive Committee

The national executive members of the party Lalu Prasad Yadav, Tejashwi Yadav, Tej Pratap Yadav, Misa Bharti, Prem Chandra Gupta, Manoj Jha, Abdul Bari Siddiqui and Ram Chandra Purve.^[19]

Lok Sabha elections

Bihar Vidhan Sabha (Lower House) Election

Jharkhand Vidhan Sabha Election

Chief ministers

Deputy chief ministers

Present members

• Md Ali Ashraf Fatmi, close aide of Lalu Prasad Yadav, RJD Co-founder and ex- Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Four time member of parliament.
• Abdul Bari Siddiqui, close associate of Lalu Prasad Yadav former Leader of Leader of Opposition following the 2010 Bihar Legislative Assembly election until the split between JD(U) and BJP and former Finance Minister Govt. of Bihar. Former Bihar RJD President.
• Alok Kumar Mehta, National General Secretary of Rashtriya Janata Dal.^[52]
• Prem Kumar Mani, Vice President and Strategist of RJD.
• Jagada Nand Singh, Former State President of RJD for Bihar.^[53]
• Shivchandra Ram, former Member of legislative Assembly.^[54]
• Ram Chandra Purve is a Former member of the Bihar Legislative Council. Former state president of RJD.
• Jay Prakash Narayan Yadav General Secretary, RJD. Former Cabinet Minister Bihar Govt. Former Union Minister, MP.
• Sarfaraz Alam Former Minister Bihar Govt. Former MP Araria.
• Manoj Jha MP Rajya Sabha and National Spokesperson of RJD.
• Prem Chand Gupta MP Rajya Sabha and former cabinet minister in Ministry of Company Affairs of India in First Manmohan Singh ministry.
• Ahmad Ashfaque Karim Former MP Rajya Sabha.
• Surendra Prasad Yadav senior RJD leader and Member of Bihar Legislative Assembly from Belaganj.Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee.
• K. P. Mohanan, Party head Kerala Legislative Assembly.^[55]

Late members

• Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, close aide of Lalu Prasad Yadav, RJD Co-founder and Union Minister for Rural Development.
• Raghunath Jha, close aide of Lalu Prasad Yadav, RJD Co-founder and Union Minister. Responsible for start of Lalu Raj in Bihar.
• Mohammad Shahabuddin He was a former Member of Parliament from the Siwan constituency in the state of Bihar,^[56] former National Vice President and a former member of the National Executive Committee of the RJD,close associate of Lalu Prasad Yadav.