Sharad Yadav is a politician who came in the political arena as a student leader. After having a successful student leader and President of Students Union of Jabalpur University and also President of Samajwadi Yujan Sabha, he was elected to 5th Lok Sabha in by-election 1974 from Jabalpur constituency in Madhya Pradesh. It was the time when J P Movement was on peak and he was selected as the People's candidate and he was the first candidate chosen by Lok Nayak Shri Jai Prakash Narain. He contested on the election symbol "Haldar Kisan" and it was the same symbol which later inherited by Janata Party. Since then, he has represented this Party which was formed with Samajwadi principles in politics with one or the other nomenclature. Presently he is the patron of Loktantarik Janata Dal which has been formed by his supporters in the event of his illegal removal from Janata Dal U and then disqualification from Rajya Sabha in December 2017 as he attended the Rally of Mahagathbandan. JD was a part of mahagathbandhan when Bihar Government was formed in 2015.
Early life
Seventy-Three years old, Shri Sharad Yadav born in 1947 in farmer's family in Village Ankhmau of a small town called Babai District Hoshangabad in Madhya Pradesh. Gold Medalist in B.E. from Jabalpur Engineering College; President, Students Union, Jabalpur University, 1971; elected to Lok Sabha from three States viz. Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar; influenced by the ideologies of Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia, Jai Prakash Narain, Baba Saheb Ambedkar, Mahatma Phule, Ch. Charan Singh and Karpoori Thakur and has tried to emulate their ideologies in his personal life and propagate them in public life; active youth leader and participated in a number of mass movements for addressing the problem of the police personnel, teachers, etc. and also issues concerning demands, unemployment, corruption and unwarranted encounters in Uttar Pradesh; and imprisoned in different Jails of Madhya Pradesh namely Jabalpur, Rewa, Bilaspur, Narsinghgarh, Balaghat, Seoni and Etha ; detained under MISA during 1969-70, 1972 and 1975; played a significant role in the implementation of recommendations of Mandal Commission and caste census. From the very beginning he worked for underprivileged and downtrodden people of the Society. He was one of the architects of Mandal Commission recommendations and made enormous efforts for their implementation in 1990.
Controversies
Sharad Yadav has been in the news for making controversial statements. In 2017, he gave a speech comparing votes to daughter's honour and suggesting to prefer the former. In 2015, during his Rajya Sabha speech, Yadav made sexist comments against south Indian women. He was one of the accused in the infamous hawala scandal; however, the charges were dismissed by the Supreme Court of India.
Parliamentary Constituency
Sharad Yadav has won four times in 1991, 1996, 1999 and 2009 from Bihar's Madhepura Lok Sabha constituency from where Acharya Kriplani was elected in 1957. He also won thrice from other Lok Sabha constituencies. He has been defeated thrice from Madhepura constituency - twice by Lalu Prasad Yadav in 1998 and 2004 and by Pappu Yadav of RJD in 2014. He was elected first time from Jabalpur constituency of Lok Sabha in 1974. It was the time when JP Movement was at peak and he was the first candidate chosen by Shri Jai Prakash Narayan for political arena on election symbol of Haldar Kisan. Again, he was elected from the same constituency in 1977. He was elected from Badaun Lok Sabha constituency in the year 1989. Thereafter, he has been contesting from Madhepura Lok Sabha constituency except in the byelection caused by Lalu Yadav resigning his seat in 2004.
