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Ahead of the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections, dynastic politics continues to shape the state’s political landscape, with nearly one in three outgoing MLAs hailing from established political families. According to a detailed analysis by The Indian Express, out of the 243 MLAs completing their term in Bihar Assembly, 70 (accounting for 28.81%) belong to families with prior political influence, highlighting the persistence of legacy politics in the state. The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leads this trend. Of the party’s 71 outgoing MLA, 30 (42.25%) come from dynastic backgrounds, underscoring the party’s prominent role in perpetuating family legacies. Key figures include RJD stalwarts Lalu Prasad Yadav and Rabri Devi’s sons, Opposition leader Tejashwi Yadav and former minister Tej Pratap Yadav. In addition, at least seven other RJD MLAs are direct descendants of former ministers, including Deepa Manjhi, daughter-in-law of former Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, and sons of ex-Chief Ministers Jagannath Mishra and Harihar Singh. Similarly, the Janata Dal (United) has also witnessed significant dynastic representation, with 16 of its 44 outgoing MLAs (36.36%) coming from political families. While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fewer dynastic MLAs than the combined totals of RJD and JDU, the exact number remains unspecified. Congress, meanwhile, has four of its 19 MLAs (21.25%) representing political families. Seven ministers in the outgoing JDU-BJP government hail from dynastic backgrounds, including JDU leaders Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, Maheshwar Hazari, Sheela Kumari, and Sunil Kumar, alongside BJP’s Nitin Naveen. JDU minister Sumit Kumar Singh represents a lineage of MLAs spanning three generations, while figures such as Samrat Chaudhary, son of former Chief Minister Shakuni Chaudhary, and Santosh Suman Manjhi, son of ex-Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, illustrate the continued prominence of familial political influence. Other notable dynastics include RJD’s Yusuf Salahuddin, grandson of a former MP, and JDU minister Ashok Chaudhary, whose father also served as a minister.
