Father's Name
Late Shri Kaviraj Ram Lakhan Singh
Mother's Name
Late Smt. Parmeshwari Devi
Date of Birth
1st March, 1951
Place of Birth
Bakhtiarpur, District - Patna, State - Bihar
Date of Marriage
22nd February, 1973
Spouse's Name
Late Smt. Manju Kumari Sinha
Educational Qualifications
B.Sc. (Engineering)
Educated at Bihar College of Engineering, Patna, Bihar
Profession
Political & Social Worker, Agriculturist, Engineer
Permanent Address
Village - Hakikatpur, PO - Bakhtiarpur, District - Patna, Bihar
Present Address
Patna, Bihar
Positions Held
- 1985-89: Member, Bihar Legislative Assembly
- 1986-87: Member, Committee on Petitions, Bihar Legislative Assembly
- 1987-88: President, Yuva Lok Dal, Bihar
- 1987-89: Member, Committee on Public Undertakings, Bihar Legislative Assembly
- 1989: Secretary-General, Janata Dal, Bihar
- 1989: Elected to 9th Lok Sabha
- 1989-16/7/1990: Member, House Committee (Resigned)
- 4/1990-11/1990: Union Minister of State, Agriculture and Co-operation
- 1991: Re-elected to 10th Lok Sabha (2nd term)
- 1991-93: General-Secretary, Janata Dal; Deputy Leader of Janata Dal in Parliament
- 17/12/91-10/5/96: Member, Railway Convention Committee
- 8/4/93-10/5/96: Chairman, Committee on Agriculture
- 1996: Re-elected to 11th Lok Sabha (3rd term); Member various committees
- 1996-98: Member, Committee on Defence
- 1998: Re-elected to 12th Lok Sabha (4th term)
- 19/3/98-5/8/99: Union Cabinet Minister, Railways
- 14/4/98-5/8/99: Union Cabinet Minister, Surface Transport (additional charge)
- 1999: Re-elected to 13th Lok Sabha (5th term)
- 13/10/99-22/11/99: Union Cabinet Minister, Surface Transport
- 22/11/99-3/3/00: Union Cabinet Minister, Agriculture
- 3/3/00-10/3/00: Chief Minister, Bihar
- 27/5/00-20/3/01: Union Cabinet Minister, Agriculture
- 20/3/01-21/7/01: Union Cabinet Minister, Agriculture with additional charge of Railways
- 22/7/01-21/5/04: Union Cabinet Minister, Railways
- 2004: Re-elected to 14th Lok Sabha (6th term); Leader Janata Dal (U) Parliamentary Party
- 24/11/2005-24/11/2010: Chief Minister, Bihar
- 26/11/2010-17/05/2014: Chief Minister, Bihar
- 22/02/2015-26/07/2017: Chief Minister, Bihar
- 27/07/2017 Onward: Chief Minister, Bihar (continuing multiple terms into 2026)
Countries Visited
Singapore, Thailand, Havana (Cuba) and Moscow (Russia) - as a member of Indian Delegation to the World Youth Festival in 1978, Australia and France - as a Member of Indian Parliamentary Delegation to the IPU Conference. France, Switzerland and UK - as the Railway Minister. Japan - as the Agriculture Minister to attend Regional Conference of FAO in Yokohama. He has visited Mauritius, Bhutan, China, Pakistan, Nepal and Japan as Chief Minister of Bihar.
Other Information
Activist of J.P. Movement (1974-77).
Was detained in 1974 under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (M.I.S.A.) and also during Emergency in 1975.
Founder-member, Samata Party Movement.
Awards and Recognition
- First Mufti Muhammad Syed Award 2018 for Integrity in Politics and Public Life
- Anuvrat Puraskar, by Shwetambar Terapanthi Mahasabha (Jain Organisation), for enforcing total prohibition on liquor in Bihar, 2017
- K. Veeramani Periyar Award 2015, for Social Justice
- JP Memorial Award, Nagpur's Manav Mandir, 2013
- Ranked 77th in prestigious Foreign Policy Magazine among top 100 global thinkers 2012
- Sir Jehangir Ghandy Medal-2011 by XLRI, Jamshedpur
- MSN Indian of the year 2010
- NDTV Indian of the Year – Politics, 2010
- Forbes "Indian Person of the Year", 2010
- CNN-IBN "Indian of the Year Award" – Politics, 2010
- NDTV Indian of the year – Politics, 2009
- Economic Times "Business Reformer of the Year 2009"
- 'Polio Eradication Championship Award' 2009, by Rotary Internationals
- CNN-IBN "Great Indian of the Year" Award Politics, 2008