Patna: Ram Kripal Yadav, once one of Lalu Prasad’s most trusted lieutenants and a prominent figure in the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) for nearly three decades, has been sworn in as a minister in Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s 2025 cabinet. His induction marks yet another dramatic turn in a political career defined by loyalty, rebellion and reinvention.
Few leaders have observed Bihar’s shifting political landscape as closely as Yadav. Born on October 12, 1957, he emerged from local body politics and once served as the mayor of Patna, building a reputation as a grounded, organisationally astute leader. His rise through the RJD was steady: he became a central figure in the party’s strategy-making apparatus, helped shape its organisational base, and went on to win the Lok Sabha seat three times on an RJD ticket.
But in 2014, long-simmering tensions within the RJD came to a head. Disputes over candidate selection and widening differences with the top leadership pushed Yadav to sever ties with the party he had long helped anchor. In a move that reshaped both his career and Bihar’s political arithmetic, he crossed over to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
His decision was quickly tested. Contesting the Pataliputra Lok Sabha seat on a BJP ticket, he faced Misa Bharti, Lalu Prasad’s daughter. In a result that stunned many, Yadav defeated her, cementing his new political identity and signalling a major setback for the RJD.
Yadav went on to serve as minister of state for rural development in the Narendra Modi government between 2014 and 2019, where he worked on programmes relating to rural infrastructure, housing, roads and MNREGA. Re-elected in 2019, he remained an influential figure in Bihar’s political landscape even as his role increasingly shifted towards organisational responsibilities after 2024.
His appointment to the Nitish Kumar cabinet is seen as both a strategic inclusion and a testament to his enduring influence. It also marks an unusual political trajectory—from Lalu Prasad’s inner circle, to a BJP Union minister, and now a member of a JD(U)-led state government.
