Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president Lalu Prasad Yadav turned 76 on Sunday.

While the veteran leader celebrated the occasion with his family and friends in Patna, his party observed the day as "Samajik Nyaya aur Sadbhavna Divas" (Social Justice and Harmony Day) across Bihar.

The birthday celebration started at midnight with Lalu cutting a cake at the 10 Circular Road residence of his wife and former chief minister Rabri Devi.

Apart from Rabri, eldest daughter and Rajya Sabha member Misa Bharti, Singapore-based daughter Rohini Acharya who had donated one of her kidneys to him, youngest son and deputy chief minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, daughter-in-law Rajshree Yadav, two other daughters and several grandchildren were present with him.

Later in the day, the RJD shared photographs of the occasion, including Lalu and Rabri sharing the cake with each other.

“We are celebrating the birthday of our party president as Social Justice and Harmony Day. Feasts are being organised among the poor people and the weaker sections of society right from the state headquarters to district, block, panchayat and booth levels. Lalu Ji’s messages pertaining to social justice and harmony are also being communicated on the occasion,” RJD state spokesperson Chitranjan Gagan said.

The party leaders and supporters distributed fruits among patients in hospitals, books and stationery items among students hailing from poor families, and clothes among the weaker sections of society. Blood donation camps were also organised at various places.

A large number of RJD supporters carrying party flags and lanterns, which happens to be the party’s electoral symbol, gathered outside Rabri’s residence and danced to the beats of drums and cymbals. They chanted slogans for the well-being of Lalu, who had undergone a kidney transplant at a Singapore hospital in December 2022.

The RJD chief returned to Patna in April after recuperating for a couple of months in Delhi. His presence is being seen as a herald of a much-awaited unity of the Opposition parties against the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and also a change of guard in Bihar as chief minister Nitish Kumar shifts his focus towards national politics.