Lalu Prasad Yadav, sometimes spelt as Laloo Prasad or Lalloo Prasad, (Devanāgarī: लालू प्रसाद यादव) Lālu Prasād (born June 11, 1947 Goplaganj, Bihar ) is an Indian politician from the state of Bihar. He is currently the Minister of Railways in the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government and the president of the Rashtriya Janata Dal.
He is one of a few ministers charged and investigated in a number of corruption cases. He is currently a Member of Parliament in the 14th Lok Sabha from the Chhapra constituency. Criminal convictions were almost unheard of in the reign of Lalu Prasad Yadav and his wife Rabri Devi. With the new government of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, a new system of speedy trials helped secure nearly 10,000 convictions in 2007. Kidnapping for ransom, Bihar's biggest industry in Lalu's days, has fallen four-fold. In the past two years, more than 200 cases have been registered against corrupt government officials, something also unheard of during Mr. Lalu Prasad Yadav's tenure. He is known for his charismatic leadership and mass appeal among some of the so-called backward castes and religious minorities, as well as his notorious corruption cases and explicit caste-based politics.
Earlier, Lalu served as Chief Minister of Bihar from 1990-1997, when he was forced to resign following escalating corruption charges in the Fodder scam.
