| Raghunath Jha | |
|---|---|
| MP | |
| In office 2004 to 2009 |
|
| Constituency | Bettiah |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 9 August 1939 Sitamarhi, Bihar |
| Political party | RJD |
| Spouse(s) | Dev Karma Devi |
| Children | 1 son and 1 daughter |
| Residence | Bettiah |
| Religion | Hindu Brahaman |
| Website | www.rashtriyajanatadal.com |
| As of September 25, 2006 Source: [1] |
|
Raghunath Jha (born 9 August 1939) was Union minister of State for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprise and member of the 14th Lok Sabha of India. He represented the Bettiah constituency of Bihar and is a member of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) political party. He is one of the highly respected politicians of Mithilanchal region.
Raghunath Jha was born in Village-Amba Ojha Tola,district Sheohar.From a very young age he was actively participating in student politics.He was inspired by leaders such as Jay prakash Narayan,Ram manohar lohia and Karpori thakur.He was also closely associated with former prime minister Chandrashekhar Singh. He is married to dev karma devi and has one son and one daughter.His son Ajit Kumar Jha is the Member of Legislative Assembly from sheohar the seat once represented by his father.He has two grandsons- Rakesh and Navneet.
Jha entered Bihar Legislative Assembly in the year 1972 on a congress ticket from his home constituency Sheohar.He has represented the constituency for a record twenty seven years.
His political career has seen a lot of ups and downs.In the year 1985 he was denied a congress ticket and he contested on a Janata Party ticket. The electorate of Sheohar gave the slogan " hath nahi Raghunath Chahiye, sher e Bihar ka sath chahiye" and he won by a huge margin.
In 1985 he was elected as the leader of Janata party Legislature party.In 1989 he was made the Chairman of janata Dal Parliamentary board and unsuccessfully contested for the post of Bihar Chief Minister in the year 1990 against Ram Sundar Das and Lalu Prasad Yadav.Lalu Prasad Yadav emerged as the winner.Jha entered parliament from gopalganj in the year 1999.Currently,he is the Vice President of RJD.In April 2008 he was also inducted as minister in UPA government