Rabri Devi will not vacate government bungalow: RJD

The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on Wednesday declared that former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi — wife of party founder Lalu Prasad — will not vacate the government bungalow she has occupied for two decades, despite a fresh order from the state government.

The assertion came a day after the state's building construction department issued a notification directing her to shift to 39, Hardinge Road, a property "earmarked" as the official residence of the Leader of the Opposition in the Vidhan Parishad or Legislative Council.

Speaking to reporters, RJD state president Mangani Lal Mandal said 10, Circular Road — located directly opposite chief minister Nitish Kumar's official residence at 1, Anney Marg — “will not be vacated, come what may”.

He alleged political hostility behind the move, saying, “The decision smacks of malice the ruling NDA harbours for our leader Lalu Prasad. Why did chief minister Nitish Kumar wait two decades before earmarking a government bungalow for the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council? And if it was necessary, why did the government not earmark 10, Circular Road? They should have considered the fact that its occupants, Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi, have both served as chief ministers.”

For years, Bihar — like several other states — had a provision granting former chief ministers the right to occupy a government residence for life. Under this system, Rabri Devi was allotted 10, Circular Road after leaving office.

However, this arrangement was upended after a series of court interventions, including a significant Allahabad High Court judgment that struck down similar lifetime allotments in Uttar Pradesh. Following these rulings, Bihar was compelled to scrap its own “life-long” residence provision.

State minister Santosh Kumar Suman referred to this history, noting that the bungalow had originally been allotted “in accordance with an earlier provision of a ‘life-long’ residence for former chief ministers”.

He added, “That provision had to be scrapped following an Allahabad High Court ruling a few years ago. In any case, we are not depriving Rabri Devi of the bungalow. Moreover, the government has the right to decide which bungalow should be allotted to whom.”

Mandal, however, insisted the decision was driven by political calculations rather than administrative norms. “Nitish Kumar has taken the decision to curry favour with the BJP. He has been rattled by the aggression of his alliance partner, which has forced him to give up the home portfolio he held so dear. So, knowing the BJP’s ill-will towards Lalu ji, Nitish Kumar has tried to appease Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ilk by insulting our leader.”

He further warned the ruling coalition against treating the RJD lightly. “The ruling NDA should remember that we may be in the opposition, but in the recent Assembly elections, we got more votes than any of its constituents. As per the Election Commission, we got more than 1 crore votes while the BJP, the NDA’s largest constituent, got less than 90 lakh. So they better not try to belittle us.”

Mandal was speaking after a party review meeting examining the RJD’s steep electoral slide — its tally fell to 25 seats from 75 five years ago. He maintained that the party did not view the outcome as a defeat. “We did not lose the elections. It was the system that worked against us. We should consider ourselves as victors and not losers.”

Highlighting what he described as the uneven playing field, he added, “Just look at the enormous resources the BJP-led NDA had. Our leader Tejashwi Yadav had to put up against their fleet of helicopters and chartered planes, the large amount of money donated by big business houses. We must not think that we have lost.”

With PTI inputs