Ram Gopal Yadav

Ram Gopal Yadav (born 29 June 1946) is an Indian politician from Uttar Pradesh. He is the Secretary-General of the Samajwadi Party and the Member of Parliament (MP) in Rajya Sabha, since 2008.^[1] Yadav also served as Lok Sabha MP of Sambhal from 2004 to 2008.^[2]

Ram Gopal Yadav
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
Incumbent
Assumed office 26 November 2008
In office 5 July 1992 – 4 July 2004
Constituency	Uttar Pradesh
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office 2004–2008
Preceded by	Mulayam Singh Yadav
Succeeded by	Shafiqur Rahman Barq
Constituency	Sambhal
Personal details
Born	(1946-06-29) 29 June 1946 (age 79) Saifai, United Provinces, British India
Political party	Samajwadi Party
Spouse	Phoolan Devi ​ ​ (m. 1962; died 2010)​
Relations	Mulayam Singh Yadav (cousin) Shivpal Singh Yadav (cousin) Akhilesh Yadav (nephew) Dharmendra Yadav (nephew) Tej Pratap Singh Yadav (grand-nephew) Aditya Yadav (nephew) Akshay Yadav (son) Arvind Pratap
Children	4 (1 daughter and 3 sons including Akshay Yadav)
Parents	Bachchi Lal Yadav (father) Phool Wati (mother)
Residence	Etawah
Alma mater	Agra University Kanpur University[1]

On 23 October 2016, he was expelled from the party^[3] by Shivpal Singh Yadav, the state president of Samajwadi Party. He was accepted later in the party. On 30 December 2016, Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, who was also his cousin, expelled him from the party again for six years,^[4] but on the following day the expulsion was revoked by the party on constitutional grounds.^[5]

Early life

Ram Gopal Yadav was born on 29 June 1946 in Saifai village, Etawah district, Uttar Pradesh to Bachchi Lal Yadav and Phool Wati.^[6] He had a sister Geeta Devi, who died in August 2021.^[7]

Family

See also: Political families of Uttar Pradesh

Ram Gopal Yadav is the cousin of Ratan Singh Yadav, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Abhay Ram Yadav, Rajpal Singh Yadav and Shivpal Singh Yadav.^[8] Kamla Devi Yadav is his cousin sister.

Arvind Pratap who has served as MLC in Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council is the nephew of Ram Gopal Yadav (through his sister Geeta).

Positions held

Ram Gopal Yadav has been elected 1 time as Lok Sabha MP and 5 times as Rajya Sabha MP.^[9]

From	To	Position	Party
1992	1998	MP (1st term) in Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh	SP
1998	2004	MP (2nd term) in Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh	SP
2004	2008	MP (1st term) in 14th Lok Sabha from Sambhal (resigned in 2008)	SP
2008	2014	MP (3rd term) in Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh	SP
2014[10][11]	2020	MP (4th term) in Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh	SP
2020	Present	MP (5th term) in Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh	SP

Other positions

• 1989–1992: Chairman, Zila Parishad, Etawah
• 1994–2004: Leader of Samajwadi Party parliamentary group in Rajya Sabha
• 2004: Leader of Samajwadi Party in Lok Sabha
• September 2013–present: Leader of Samajwadi Party in Rajya Sabha
• 2017: Selected as Secretary-General of Samajwadi Party

Ram Gopal Yadav (fourth from right) on the birth anniversary of Ram Manohar Lohia in Parliament

Personal life

On 4 May 1962, Ram Gopal Yadav married Phoolan Devi and the couple had 1 daughter and 3 sons including Akshay Yadav.^[6][8] Phoolan Devi died in August 2010.

One of his son, Asit Yadav (Billu Yadav), died in a road accident in 1999. Later Billu's wife Abhilasha Yadav married Anurag Yadav (brother of Dharmendra Yadav) in 2004.^[12][13]

Books

• Lohia Ka Samajwad^[14]
• Sansad Main Meri Baat^[15]