Meet Ritlal Yadav: Jailed RJD candidate with over 40 criminal cases for whom Lalu Yadav conducted roadshow in Bihar

On 3rd November 2025, Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Yadav held a roadshow in the Danapur constituency in Bihar for his party’s MLA candidate, Ritlal Rai alias Ritlal Yadav. The RJD candidate is currently lodged in Bhagalpur jail. The out-on-bail RJD patriarch began his roadshow from Digha and ended it in Khagaul, covering 15 kilometres. Lalu Yadav was accompanied by his daughter Misa Bharti. In an apparent bid to garner sympathy for Ritlal Yadav, the RJD candidate’s daughter also joined the roadshow. She has also been interacting with the media and seeking votes for her jailed father. VIDEO | Bihar Elections 2025: RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav holds a roadshow in Danapur for party candidate Ritlal Yadav.The first phase of voting in the Bihar Elections is scheduled for November 6.#BiharElections2025 #BiharElectionWithPTI(Full video available on PTI Videos –… pic.twitter.com/pPTXGiOvCP— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) November 3, 2025 Ritlal Yadav contesting the Danapur assembly seat from jail: From don to politician Ritlal Yadav, also spelt Ritlal Ray or Rit Lal Roy, has been incarcerated in Bhagalpur Jail since April 2025. Yadav is accused of demanding Rs 50 lakh and threatening a builder named Kumar Gaurav. An FIR was registered against Ritlal Yadav at the Khagaul Police Station. On 17th April 2025, Ritlal surrendered before the police and was sent to Beur Jail in Patna. Later, he was moved to Bhagalpur’s special central jail. In October, the RJD MLA came out in police custody to file his nomination from the Danapur constituency. He's Ritlal Yadav. He's RJD MLA & candidate from Danapur assembly constituency.He's currently lodged in jail & so arrived in a jail van to file his nomination.He fits perfectly in RJD 'Culture'.He plans to improve Law & Order from jail…as promised by Tejashwi Yadav. pic.twitter.com/CAGlAso1l8— BhikuMhatre (@MumbaichaDon) October 17, 2025 His arrest came days after Police Police, after a court order, conducted simultaneous raids at 11 of his locations linked to Ritlal Yadav. The police recovered lakhs of rupees in cash and blank checks worth Rs 77.5 lakh. During the multi-location raid, the police also confiscated Police around Rs 11 lakh in cash, a note-counting machine, three guns, old stamp papers, land-related documents, and blank checks from Ritlal Yadav’s residence. The incarcerated RJD leader, for whom Lalu Yadav himself came out to seek votes, also has a case registered against him for allegedly killing BJP leader Satyanarayan Sinha in the Khagaul area during one of RJD’s rallies in 2005. The RJD candidate is booked in over 40 criminal cases, with charges including murder, extortion, rioting and criminal intimidation. Lalu Yadav’s roadshow to garner support for Ritlal Yadav’s candidacy came after the Patna High Court denied Ritlal’s plea for temporary release to campaign in the assembly elections on 31st October 2025. RJD patriarch Lalu Yadav’s roadshow in support of Ritlal Yadav comes across as a well-planned strategic move, as Ritlal’s victory will play a crucial role in paving the way for Misa Bharti’s political future. The Danapur assembly constituency is part of Misa Bharti’s Pataliputra Lok Sabha constituency, where she defeated Lalu’s son-in-law, Ramkripal Yadav, who has now joined the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP). The Yadav voters constitute approximately 22% of Danapur voters, followed by approximately 20% Forward Classes, approximately 15% Dalits, 20-25% EBCs, and 6-8% Muslims. Yadav’s vote seemed divided in Danpur as both BJP’s Ramkripal Yadav and RJD’s Ritlal Yadav enjoy support among their caste group. Lalu Yadav, who began his politics on Yadav caste supremacist politics and gave ‘Bhoora Baal Saaf Karo’, wanted to consolidate the Yadav votebank behind Ritlal Yadav. Recently, Ritlal Yadav’s wife, Rinku Devi, came under investigation for campaigning for her husband even though she is a government school headmaster in Patna. Despite being a government servant, Rinku Devi was allegedly doing election campaigning for Ritlal Yadav during school hours. Earlier in July 2025, authorities launched a probe against Rinku Devi for allegedly holding a partnership in a construction company in violation of service rules, as she is a government employee. Hailing from the dominant Yadav caste background, which aligns with RJD’s core voter base and caste supremacist politics, Ritlal Yadav navigated his way to power after rising as a strongman/Bahubali in Patna’s Danapur. Despite his criminal antecedents, the 53-year-old RJD leader enjoys influence in Patna’s rural and semi-rural pockets, especially Danapur. This constituency has been politically volatile and has a history of caste-based as well as muscle-power-driven elections. Ritlal Yadav’s journey began as a local don in the early 2000s during Lalu Yadav’s “Tel Pilavan, Lathi Ghumavan” rally. It was during this rally in July 2003 that BJP leader Satyanarayan Sinha, who unsuccessf

Nov 4, 2025 0

Meet Ritlal Yadav: Jailed RJD candidate with over 40 criminal cases for whom Lalu Yadav conducted roadshow in Bihar

On 3rd November 2025, Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Yadav held a roadshow in the Danapur constituency in Bihar for his party’s MLA candidate, Ritlal Rai alias Ritlal Yadav. The RJD candidate is currently lodged in Bhagalpur jail. The out-on-bail RJD patriarch began his roadshow from Digha and ended it in Khagaul, covering 15 kilometres.

Lalu Yadav was accompanied by his daughter Misa Bharti. In an apparent bid to garner sympathy for Ritlal Yadav, the RJD candidate’s daughter also joined the roadshow. She has also been interacting with the media and seeking votes for her jailed father.

Ritlal Yadav contesting the Danapur assembly seat from jail: From don to politician

Ritlal Yadav, also spelt Ritlal Ray or Rit Lal Roy, has been incarcerated in Bhagalpur Jail since April 2025. Yadav is accused of demanding Rs 50 lakh and threatening a builder named Kumar Gaurav. An FIR was registered against Ritlal Yadav at the Khagaul Police Station. On 17th April 2025, Ritlal surrendered before the police and was sent to Beur Jail in Patna. Later, he was moved to Bhagalpur’s special central jail. In October, the RJD MLA came out in police custody to file his nomination from the Danapur constituency.

His arrest came days after Police Police, after a court order, conducted simultaneous raids at 11 of his locations linked to Ritlal Yadav. The police recovered lakhs of rupees in cash and blank checks worth Rs 77.5 lakh. During the multi-location raid, the police also confiscated Police around Rs 11 lakh in cash, a note-counting machine, three guns, old stamp papers, land-related documents, and blank checks from Ritlal Yadav’s residence.

The incarcerated RJD leader, for whom Lalu Yadav himself came out to seek votes, also has a case registered against him for allegedly killing BJP leader Satyanarayan Sinha in the Khagaul area during one of RJD’s rallies in 2005. The RJD candidate is booked in over 40 criminal cases, with charges including murder, extortion, rioting and criminal intimidation.

Lalu Yadav’s roadshow to garner support for Ritlal Yadav’s candidacy came after the Patna High Court denied Ritlal’s plea for temporary release to campaign in the assembly elections on 31st October 2025.

RJD patriarch Lalu Yadav’s roadshow in support of Ritlal Yadav comes across as a well-planned strategic move, as Ritlal’s victory will play a crucial role in paving the way for Misa Bharti’s political future. The Danapur assembly constituency is part of Misa Bharti’s Pataliputra Lok Sabha constituency, where she defeated Lalu’s son-in-law, Ramkripal Yadav, who has now joined the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP).

The Yadav voters constitute approximately 22% of Danapur voters, followed by approximately 20% Forward Classes, approximately 15% Dalits, 20-25% EBCs, and 6-8% Muslims. Yadav’s vote seemed divided in Danpur as both BJP’s Ramkripal Yadav and RJD’s Ritlal Yadav enjoy support among their caste group. Lalu Yadav, who began his politics on Yadav caste supremacist politics and gave ‘Bhoora Baal Saaf Karo’, wanted to consolidate the Yadav votebank behind Ritlal Yadav.

Recently, Ritlal Yadav’s wife, Rinku Devi, came under investigation for campaigning for her husband even though she is a government school headmaster in Patna. Despite being a government servant, Rinku Devi was allegedly doing election campaigning for Ritlal Yadav during school hours.

Earlier in July 2025, authorities launched a probe against Rinku Devi for allegedly holding a partnership in a construction company in violation of service rules, as she is a government employee.

Hailing from the dominant Yadav caste background, which aligns with RJD’s core voter base and caste supremacist politics, Ritlal Yadav navigated his way to power after rising as a strongman/Bahubali in Patna’s Danapur. Despite his criminal antecedents, the 53-year-old RJD leader enjoys influence in Patna’s rural and semi-rural pockets, especially Danapur. This constituency has been politically volatile and has a history of caste-based as well as muscle-power-driven elections.

Ritlal Yadav’s journey began as a local don in the early 2000s during Lalu Yadav’s “Tel Pilavan, Lathi Ghumavan” rally. It was during this rally in July 2003 that BJP leader Satyanarayan Sinha, who unsuccessfully contested the Danapur bypolls that year, was killed near Jamauddin Chak on the Khagaul-Bihta Road.

Ritlal leveraged his Yadav caste and alleged control over lucrative resources like sand mining and land in Patna. Ritlal Yadav earned notoriety by clashing with BJP leaders and is accused of BJP MLA Satyanarayan Sinha.

Yadav surrendered before the 2010 assembly elections. Ritlal Yadav contested the election from jail as an independent candidate and lost. During the 2020 Bihar elections, Yadav was released from jail after a year and contested the election from Danapur on an RJD ticket. He registered a decisive victory over the BJP candidate. This win boosted RJD’s confidence in the ‘Bahubali’ strategy for reclaiming strongholds.

Although Ritlal Yadav was recently granted bail in the murder case of BJP leader Satyanarayan Sinha, he returned to jail in the extortion case and filed his nomination while in police custody.

According to his election affidavit, Ritlal Yadav owns assets worth Rs 13 crore. He is a 12th pass and faces multiple cases with charges ranging from criminal intimidation, extortion, dacoity-related sections, abetting or conspiring organised crime syndicates, murder, and undue influence in elections, among others.

In his affidavit, Ritlal Yadav has declared 11 pending criminal cases filed against him involving violations of laws pertaining to the Arms Act and the Money Laundering Act, among others.

Ritlal’s name has been linked to several other serious allegations, including the murder of railway contractors on a moving train in Bakhtiyarpur, the murder of his rival Chunnu Singh on the occasion of Chhath, land grabbing and illegal sand mining.

Back in 2023, Ritlal Yadav issued a controversial statement regarding the Ramcharitmanas. He claimed that the Hindu holy text was written in a mosque. He also accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of creating a rift in society in the name of Hindutva, saying that Hindutva wasn’t in danger back when the Mughals ruled over India for such a long duration

The don-turned-politician also has a knack for theatrics, and during a court appearance in July this year, Ritlal Yadav appealed for “euthanasia”, alleging that he faces threats from ‘powerful forces’. This sympathy-garnering tactic is also being employed by his family, who claim that the police are somehow threatening them against seeking votes.

The Lalu family has long been shielding and fostering criminals for political gains. From Shahabuddin and Taslimuddin to Rajballabh Yadav and now Ritlal Yadav, the RJD continues its trademark politics of playing caste, violence and Bahubalis.

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