All you need to know about Ram Kripal Yadav, the former Lalu loyalist

Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Ram Kripal Yadav who is set to join the Bharatiya Janata Party after decades of loyalty to the RJD’s Lalu Prasad, has said he is quitting the party due to the humiliating treatment meted out to him, not over a party ticket for the Lok Sabha elections. Kripal, a sitting MP, was eyeing the Patliputra constituency that is now set to see Lalu’s daughter Misa Bharati making her political debut. [caption id=“attachment_1424775” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  RJD leader Ram Kripal Yadav resigned from all posts of the party.[/caption] This, however, is not the reason for the Rajya Sabha member quitting the party, the senior leader has said. According to reports, Kripal, 56, has been upset at Lalu’s son Tej Pratap more or less ousting his control over party affairs, replacing his aides with family loyalists. “Ram Kripal initially ignored the brashness because of Tej Pratap’s age, but then Tej Pratap started interfering in his work,” a party was quoted as saying in The Indian Express. That could well be true. For, in 2009, then sitting MP Kripal offered his seat to Lalu. A profile of the leader in The Indian Express describes the man who calls himself Misa’s uncle as one of those who remained in Lalu’s close circle even during his rough patches, “including when many had written Lalu off after the assembly election rout and the crossover of 19 RJD leaders to the Nitish Kumar camp”. In fact, Kripal has been a close associate of the former Union minister for almost 30 years, having met him in the 1980s. Kripal became a member of the Bihar Legislative Council in 1992, won a by-election to the Lok Sabha in 1993 and then again won the seat in 1997 and 2004. Even when a number of colleagues deserted Lalu after his desertion, some becoming ministers in the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar, Kripal chose to stay loyal. According to a report in The Telegraph, Kripal was the owner of a fair price shop who grew in the ranks slowly, going from a ward-level leader in and later the deputy mayor of Patna. Very accessible and known to be a “bridge between party workers and Lalu”, Kripal is also an established party organiser, gathering numbers for Lalu rallies and liaising with leaders of other parties. Now the latest backward class leader to join the BJP, Kripal’s entry into the party is expected to give a further boost to the party in Bihar, which has 40 Lok Sabha seats.