Parasnath Yadava

Parasnath Yadav (12 January 1949 – 12 June 2020) was an Indian politician and was elected 7 times MLA in Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh, 3 times Minister in Government of Uttar Pradesh and 2 times Member of Parliament from Jaunpur.

Early life and education Paras Nath Yadav was born 12 January 1949 in Barsathi Jaunpur district of Uttar Pradesh to his father Shree Ram Yadav. He married Hirawati Devi in 1970, who was also on post of Block Pramukh of Barsathi till his death (2016). They have three sons and one daughter. He attended Sewashram Inter College Suriyawan, Varanasi and attained Intermediate Certificate.

Political career Yadav started his journey in politics in 9th Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh (1985) elections, he got ticket by Lok Dal from Barsathi (Assembly constituency). He contested and was elected MLA defeating INC's Rama Krishna by a margin of 6,008 (9.38%) votes. He was also a Member in Public Enterprises and Corporation Joint Committee (1987-1988) and Question and Reference Committee (1988-1989).

In second term, in 10th Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh (1989) elections, he was elected MLA for a second time continuously by defeating INC's Lakshmi Shankar Yadav by a margin of 11,276 (12.23%) votes. He was appointed Minister of State for Secondary Education in Mulayam Singh Yadav ministry. In 1991 elections, he left Lok Dal and joined Janata Party. He again contested from Barsathi but lost to BJP's Raghuraj and stood on third with 14,686 (17%) votes. In 1992, when Mulayam Singh Yadav founded the Samajwadi Party, Yadav also left the Janata Party and joined the Samajwadi Party. From then till his death he remained associated with Samajwadi Party. He was the closest leader to Mulayam Singh Yadav.

In his third Legislature term, in 12th Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh (1993) elections, he got ticket by Samajwadi Party from Barsathi and he was elected MLA. Their winning margin also increased over time, he defeated his nearest candidate INC's Shachindra Nath Tripathi by a huge margin of 41,843 (31.85%) votes.

In his fourth Legislature term, in the 13th Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh (1996) elections, the Samajwadi Party did not give him a ticket from his regular assembly and gave him a ticket from Mariyahu (Assembly constituency). He was also not harmed by changing the assembly constituency and he defeated BJP's Jagannath Rao by a margin of 11,518 (9.04%) votes and was elected MLA. He was also made a member of the "Joint Committee on Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes" (1997–1998).

In 12th Lok Sabha (1998) elections, the Samajwadi Party made him its candidate from Jaunpur (Lok sabha constituency) in the middle of his fourth Legislative term. He contested against contemporaneous MP BJP's Raj Keshar Singh. He defeated Raj Keshar Singh by a margin of 13,426 (1.92%) votes and was elected MP of Jaunpur. They also contested 13th Lok Sabha (1999) elections, but lost to BJP's Swami Chinmayanand by a close margin of 8,635 (1.25%) votes.

In his last or seventh Legislature term, in 17th Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh (2017) elections, he again contested from Malhani. He defeated NISHAD Party candidate Dhananjay Singh by a margin of 21,210 (10.30%) votes and was elected MLA. In June 2020, during the tenure of his seventh legislature, he died by Bladder cancer. He continued to serve the people of Jaunpur till his death.

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