Ram Vilas Paswan cleared the Bihar Civil Services exam in 1969 and qualified to become a deputy superintendent of police. But he rejected the offer and decided to take the plunge into politics.
In 1969, he was elected as an MLA from the Samyukta Socialist Party in Alauli, Khagaria, Bihar.
In 1975, his career was interrupted when, as one of the political opponents of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, he was arrested and imprisoned during the Emergency, He was released in 1977.
That year he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Hajipur constituency by a record margin of 4.24 lakh votes. This also earned him a place in the Guinness Book of Records. He broke his own record in 1989 from the same seat, winning by over 5 lakh votes.
He was elected to the Lok Sabha nine times and twice to the Rajya Sabha.
He lost only twice from Hajipur—in 1984 and 2009.
Paswan was arguably the tallest Dalit leader from Bihar after Babu Jagjivan Ram.
As cabinet minister in the VP Singh government, getting the Mandal Commission report implemented in 1990 was a memorable achievement for him.
Paswan served in the cabinets of six prime ministers: VP Singh, HD Deve Gowda, IK Gujral, AB Vajpayee, Manmohan Singh and Narendra Modi. Read Paswan obituary: Ram Vilas Paswan
