Ramai Ram

Ramai Ram (1 January 1944 - 14 July 2022) was an Indian politician from Bihar. He was a prominent Dalit leader. He was associated with many political parties in his 50 year long political career; Janta Paty, Rashtriya Janta Dal, Janata Dal(United) and VIP.^[1] He was nine times MLA from Bochahan constituency of Muzaffarpur district in Bihar.

Ramai Ram
Ram with Zubair Ahmad Quraishi
Member of Bihar Legislative Assembly
In office 1972-1977
In office 1982–2015
Preceded by	Musafir Paswan
Succeeded by	Baby Kumari
Constituency	Bochahan
Minister of Land and Revenue Government of Bihar
In office 1990–1995
Chief Minister	Lalu Prasad Yadav
Constituency	Bochahan
Minister of Sports and Youth Welfare Government of Bihar
In office 1995–1997
Chief Minister	Lalu Prasad Yadav
Constituency	Bochahan
In office 2000–2005
Constituency	Bochahan
Personal details
Born	(1944-01-01)1 January 1944 Muzaffarpur, Bihar Province, British India
Died	14 July 2022(2022-07-14) (aged 78) Patna, Bihar, India
Political party	Loktantrik Janata Dal
Other political affiliations	Janata Dal (U) Janata Dal Lok Dal Janata Party VIP Rashtriya Janata Dal
Residence(s)	Kalibari Road, Mithanpura, Muzaffarpur
Profession	Politician

He served as Minister of Land and Revenue in the leadership of Lalu Prasad Yadav. ^[2]

Personal life

Ramai Ram was born to Kisuni Ram at Muzaffarpur, Bihar into a Dalit family.^[3][4]

His daughter, Geeta Kumari was appointed as a member of the State Transport Authority when he was Transport Minister and later she became MLC from Bihar.^[5] His other daughter, Rekha Devi was also MLC in Bihar.

He died at Medanta Hospital in Kankarbagh, Patna on 14 July 2022 at the age of 78.^[6][7]

Politics

• In 1972 he won for the first time from Bochahan constituency as an independent candidate. He joined Janata Party in 1980 and won from same seat.
• He again won Bochahan constituency in 1985 from Lok Dal and in 1990 & 1995 from Janata Dal.
• In 2000 he joined RJD and won from Bochahan and again in 2005. He became president of Bihar Rashtriya Janata Dal when Lalu Yadav was in jail.^[8]
• He left RJD and joined JDU in 2009 along with his daughter, Geeta Kumari.^[9] In 2010 he was again elected from Bochahan constituency.
• He was Bihar Land Reforms and Revenue Minister in Rabri Devi's government from 1999 to 2005 and in first Nitish Kumar govt.^[10]
• In 2009 he joined Congress and fought Indian general elections from Gopalganj Lok Sabha constituency.^[11]
• He was Transport Minister in Jitan Ram Manjhi's government and became President of Bihar Janata Dal (U) in 2017.
• Ram left JDU and was made state president of Loktantrik Janata Dal. Later he re-joined RJD in 2017.^[12]
• He was member of national executive team of RJD^[13]

Controversies

• He was criticized for appointing his daughter a non-official as member of State Transport Authority.
• He was reported under Human Rights Commission for harassing his domestic help.^[14]
• In 2012 he was attacked by a councillor of Muzaffarpur for unknown reasons.^[15]
• He was suspended from JDU under Sharad Yadav along with 21 other leaders for anti-party activities.^[16]
• He demanded separate country, Harijanistan (land for Dalits) after loss of Dalit lives in April 2018 caste protests in India.^[17]