Categories: Obituaries

Fighting Emergency to championing Mandal, Sharad Yadav passes away

Socialist stalwart and former JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav passed away. He was 75. He is survived by his wife, daughter and son. A 7-term Lok Sabha and 4-term Rajya Sabha member, Yadav, a former Union Minister, had not been keeping well for some time.

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Early Life:-

Born on July 1, 1947 at Babai in Hoshangabad district of Madhya Pradesh, Yadav was a gold medallist in engineering from the Jabalpur Engineering College.He soon became active in youth politics, greatly influenced by socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia.

He participated in a number of mass movements and was detained under MISA during the turbulent 1970s. Much later, he was among the leaders who played a significant role in the implementation of the Mandal Commission recommendations.

Political Career:-

An earthy politician with rustic wit and charm, Yadav, who always preferred to wear dhoti and kurta, was one of those pre-Emergency Janata leaders who rose in politics, championing and practising strident anti-Congressism to carve out a space for themselves in the 1980s and the post-Mandal 1990s.

Bihar was his political home. In fact, he was one of the few who had been instrumental in installing Lalu Prasad as Chief Minister of Bihar in 1990. Having played a role in implementation of the Mandal Commission recommendations, Yadav emerged as one of the frontline leaders of the Janata Parivar in the 1990s.

Year	Position held
1974	Elected to 5th Lok Sabha in bye-election from Jabalpur constituency.
1977	Re-elected to 6th Lok Sabha (2nd term) from Jabalpur constituency and President, Yuva Janata Dal
July 1986	Elected to Rajya Sabha
1989–1991	Elected to 9th Lok Sabha (3rd term) from Badaun constituency.
1991–1996	Re-elected to 10th Lok Sabha (4th term) from Madhepura constituency and Member, Public Accounts Committee
1996–1997	Re-elected to 11th Lok Sabha (5th term) from Madhepura constituency and Chairman, Finance Committee
1999–2004	Re-elected to 13th Lok Sabha (6th term) from Madhepura constituency and defeated Lalu Prasad Yadav
2014	Re-elected to Rajya Sabha (3rd term)
June 2016 – December 2017	Re-elected to Rajya Sabha (fourth term)