Jayant Raj Kushwaha is an Indian politician,

Member of Legislative Assembly A member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to a legislative assembly. Most often, the term refers to a subnational assembly such as that of a state, province, or territory of a country. ...

from the Amarpur (Vidhan Sabha constituency) of

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

, and Minister of Rural Work in the Government of Bihar. In the 2020 election, he defeated Jitendra Singh of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...

. While Raj secured 33.13% of votes polled, Singh, the runner up, finished with 31.23% of the votes. Raj is a member of

Janata Dal (United) Janata Dal (United) ("People’s Party (United)”) abbreviated as JD(U) is an Indian political party with political presence mainly in eastern and north-eastern India. JD(U) is recognised as a state party in the states of Bihar , Arunachal Pr ...

, the ruling party of Bihar. Raj is the son of former Member of Legislative Assembly Janardan Manjhi who earlier represented the same electoral constituency of Amarpur. He completed his schooling from C N D High School Baunsi Banka, Bachelor of Business Administration from

Marwari College, Bhagalpur Marwari College, Bhagalpur, established in 1941, is a general degree college in Bhagalpur, Bihar. It is a constituent college of Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University. It offers Intermediate courses in Commerce, Arts and Science, undergraduate c ...

Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University Tilka Majhi Bhagalpur University, formerly Bhagalpur University, is a public university in Bhagalpur, Bihar, India. It was established on 12 July 1960, having local colleges initially associated with Patna University. Its campus is around in a ...

in 2010. Nitish kumar trusted him with ministerial post despite him being a first time MLA, Nitish even came to his defense when the minister was being questioned on his work by

BJP The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Mo ...

MLAs.

Political career

On 9 August 2022, Janata Dal (United) (JDU) led by Nitish Kumar broke it's ties with the

Bhartiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar joined hands with erstwhile political rival Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) led by son of

Lalu Prasad Yadav Lalu Prasad Yadav (born 11 June 1948) is an Indian politician and president of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). He is a former Chief Minister of Bihar (1990-1997), a former Railway Minister of India (2004-2009), and a former Member of Parlia ...

Tejashwi Yadav Tejashwi Prasad Yadav (born 9 November 1989) is an Indian politician, former cricketer, and the current Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, in office since August 2022. He also serves as the Minister of Health, Minister of Road Construction and P ...

. Jayant Raj, who was serving as minister for rural works resigned from his post and in the new government formed after coalition of RJD, JDU,

and other smaller parties, Raj was again reappointed as minister, this time for Minor Water Resources in Eighth Nitish Kumar ministry. As minor water resource minister, he led establishment of regional registry office in Amarpur to deal with cases of land registration. It was established in order to reduce the burden on sole registry office located in Banka district headquarter. While inaugurating the registry office, Raj announced that the opening of regional office will not only sort out issues related to registration of land earlier, but will also create more jobs and enhance the revenue of government. In this second term as minister, Raj has also remained a critic of

Upendra Kushwaha Upendra Singh Kushwaha (born 6 February 1960) is an Indian politician and Member of Legislative Council of Bihar assembly. He was the former Minister of State for Human Resources and Development in the Government of India. He is former MP fro ...

(a rebel leader of Janata Dal United). He alleged Kushwaha of weakening Nitish Kumar; meanwhile, he also contended that the government of Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) was working for the benefit of poor and downtrodden section of society, while the activities of Kushwaha was destabilising it.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raj Kushwaha, Jayant Janata Dal (United) politicians Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University alumni Bihar MLAs 2020–2025 People from Banka district State cabinet ministers of Bihar