Yogendra Yadav (born 5 September 1963) is an Indian political scientist, activist and politician. For two decades he was one of the country’s best-known election analysts, working at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies in Delhi. He was a founding member of the Aam Aadmi Party, was expelled from it in 2015, formed Swaraj India, and was among the leaders of the farmers’ protest of 2020–21.
Quick Facts
| Full name | Yogendra Yadav |
| Born | 5 September 1963, Saharanwas, Rewari district, Haryana, India |
| Age | 63 |
| Occupation | Political scientist, activist |
| Known for | Election analysis; Swaraj India; Jai Kisan Andolan |
| Education | Jawaharlal Nehru University (M.A.); Panjab University (M.Phil.) |
| Spouse | Madhulika Banerjee |
| Children | 2 |
Early Life
Yadav was born in a village in Rewari district. His grandfather, a schoolteacher, was killed in communal violence in 1936, and his father, also a teacher, responded by giving his children names from another faith; Yogendra was called Salim as a child, a story he has often told to explain his commitment to secularism. He studied political science at Jawaharlal Nehru University and Panjab University.
Career
He taught at Panjab University in Chandigarh from 1985 and joined the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies in 1993. There he founded Lokniti, a network of scholars that runs large surveys of Indian voters, and helped revive the National Election Studies. His calm explanations of results on television in the 1990s and 2000s made him a familiar face. He advised on school textbooks in political science and was a member of the National Advisory Council on the Right to Education Act and of the University Grants Commission.
He joined the anti-corruption movement of 2011 and was on the national executive of the Aam Aadmi Party when it was founded by Arvind Kejriwal in 2012. He contested the Gurgaon Lok Sabha seat in 2014 and lost. In 2015, after he and the lawyer Prashant Bhushan questioned the way the party was being run, both were expelled.
The two founded Swaraj Abhiyan and, in 2016, the political party Swaraj India, with Yadav as president. Through the Jai Kisan Andolan he travelled across drought-hit districts and campaigned for a legal guarantee of minimum support prices. When farmers camped at the borders of Delhi in 2020–21 against three farm laws, he was a member of the coordinating committee of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, which led the protest until the laws were repealed.
He walked in the Bharat Jodo Yatra of Rahul Gandhi in 2022–23 and then became a convenor of the Bharat Jodo Abhiyaan, a platform of civil society groups that campaigned for the opposition alliance in the 2024 general election. He has also opposed the special revision of electoral rolls in the courts and in public.
Writing
His books include Making Sense of Indian Democracy (2020), a collection of his scholarly essays. He writes columns in Hindi and English.
Personal Life
He is married to Madhulika Banerjee, who teaches political science at the University of Delhi, and they have a daughter and a son.
Frequently Asked Questions
When and where was Yogendra Yadav born?
Yogendra Yadav was born on 5 September 1963 in Saharanwas, Rewari district, Haryana, India and is 63 years old.
What is Yogendra Yadav known for?
Known for: Election analysis; Swaraj India; Jai Kisan Andolan.
Featured image: Yogendra Yadav speaks at a workshop for young people, November 2023. Photo by Rizakmohammad, licensed under CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
