Born on January 2, 1959, to former Bihar Chief Minister Bhagwat Jha Azad and Indira Jha Azad, He graduated from St. Stephens College, Delhi, and is a cricketer turned politician

Being a right-handed batsman and off-spinner, he represented India in seven tests and 25 ODIs

He was a part of the iconic 1983 World Cup team and bowled a brilliant spell in the semi-finals against England

In 1990, he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party and won his first assembly election from the Gole Market constituency in 1993

He was elected as a Member of Parliament for the first time from Darbhanga in 1999. He was again elected in 2009 and 2014 from the same seat as a BJP candidate

He was suspended by the BJP in 2015 over remarks made by then finance minister Arun Jaitley over alleged corruption in the DDCA

In 2019, he joined Congress and contested from the seat of Dhanbad. He lost against the BJP's Pashupati Nath Singh by a margin of 4.8 lakhs

In 2021, he joined the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and was also made state governor of Goa

He has been given the ticket by TMC to contest from the Burdwan-Durgapur constituency

There, he faces stiff competition from the BJP's national vice president, Dilip Ghosh